Gene Munster on Latest NPD Numbers: Apple Looks Strong So Far

Posted by: Arik Hesseldahl on November 17, 2008

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster published a research note today in response to the latest data from research firm NPD on Apple’s latest retail sales.

Mac sales during the month of October were up year-on-year 28%, while iPod unit sales were down year-on-year by about 20%.

On the Mac performance, Munster says he expects Apple to sell about between 2.5 million and 2.7 million units in the December quarter, which he says implies Mac unit growth in the range of 8% to 16% year-over-year. He’s expecting unit growth of about 13%.

On the iPod numbers, he says despite the drop in sales, there’s still good news to be had, because sales weren’t quite as bad as some had been expecting: Even slowing down he expects Apple to sell 18.5 million to 19 million iPods. “This range implies year-over-year iPod unit growth of -16% to -14% vs. the Street at -16% y/y<,” he wrote. “Given concerns regarding iPod weakness, we believe the segment’s outperformance relative to Street expectations is a positive.”

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