Analyst roundup: 5m iPhones for Q4, gloomy Christmas ahead

Widely-read Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is revising his prior estimate for the quarter ending a week from Tuesday, and his outlook is even rosier than before.

Instead of 4.1 million iPhone 3Gs, Munster expects Apple will sell 5 million of the handsets. Likewise, he's revising his estimates for Mac sales up by 300,000 units, and iPod sales up by 200,000 units.

If he's right, it will mean Apple will have sold 7.4 million iPhones so far this year. That puts Apple well on track to meet its own prediction of selling 10 million handsets for calendar year 2008.

On the other hand, we have Morgan Stanley, who cut price targets for nine hardware companies, including Apple. Morgan cited a "fragile consumer," slower overall spending, and a stronger dollar (the last of which impacts sales abroad for U.S. companies).

This comes after a weak August for Mac sales, which -- in context -- only means that Apple's numbers didn't grow quite as fast as they did in prior months. They still sold 23 percent more Mac units than August 2007, but that was sharply lower than July 2008's 43 percent increase over July 2007.

[Via Fortune, Silicon Alley Insider, and 24/7 Wall St.]

Thanks, Robert!

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Source: http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/09/22/analyst-appl…

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Widely-read Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is revising his prior estimate for the quarter ending a week from Tuesday, and his outlook...

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Michaelsviews

Morgan Stanley , Hmmm there the ones that are in NEED of a bailout Right?

And anything coming from there mouths you take as what ?

September 24 2008 at 6:46 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

dlvgroup

Man, I cleaned up on Apple stock when it was $53.00 a share a few years ago. I rode that horse until I sold it at $204.00 They are alright by me! I've got everything Apple from hats to t shirts, An IPhone, a Macbook Pro and A IMac!

September 23 2008 at 1:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Charles

Pretty funny considering Morgan Stanley is one of the biggest reasons there is a short selling ban on right now. Who cares? I mean, I don't own any stock in anything (other than a rapidly dwindling 401k). So sure, everyone sell your Apple stock. When it gets down to $10 a share, I'll jump in the game. Yeah, I know.

September 22 2008 at 6:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Frank

Phffttt, Morgan Stanley.... they just sold 20% of their own company to Mitsubishi to save themselves from going under - what do they know??

I don't know about this "fragile consumer" BS... every time I go to an Apple Store, the place is a freakin' MOB SCENE, tons of people buying stuff!

September 22 2008 at 5:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ChrisM70

Do you ever get the feeling that these Wall Street people don't have any idea what they are doing? Apple does well year after year. It innovates and creates new markets. And how does the "The Market" look at it?

As a company that isn't making them enough easy cash. All these idiot day traders and speculators who don't care about what's good for the company they are investing in or for the COUNTRY - only what's good for their personal pocketbook.

So even though Apple has plenty of cash, plenty of good selling merchandise and revenue, the stock has plummeted for the last 4 months.

No wonder our economy is going down the toilet.

September 22 2008 at 5:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

LuminousNerd.com

HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA!!!

That picture is classic.

September 22 2008 at 4:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

fishbert

"That puts Apple well on track to meet its own prediction of selling 10 million handsets for calendar year 2008."

Wasn't the goal from the June '07 launch to the end of 2008? That's an extra 6 months beyond calendar year 2008.

September 22 2008 at 4:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply