Save up to $300/year on phone billsOctober 28, 2004 1:29 PM PDT
Apple shares barrel past $50 on iPod juice
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The stock, which has doubled since January, has risen 25 percent just this month. The latest spike followed Apple's Oct. 13 announcement that it had sold 2 million iPods in the past quarter. Shares continued to climb following Tuesday's announcement of the iPod Photo, which is arriving just in time for the all-important holiday shopping season.
Apple's share gain is in sharp contrast to the performance of rivals such as Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard, whose stocks have been more or less treading water for much of this year--even losing ground in HP's case.
Near the end of regular trading on Thursday, Apple shares were changing hands at $51.99, up another $1.69 after closing Wednesday at $50.30.
Analysts have continued to raise their price targets on the stock, but Apple's shares have outstripped even those bullish calls.
- Get the facts, Jack
- Go to apple.com & READ / LISTEN to Apple's financial report that
they made to various analysist.
Apple portable line exploded during the quarter (PowerBooks &
iBooks) due to INCREASE in educational market sales.
PowerMac & iMac sales were off, due to the IBM G5 90n chip
delivery, a problem plaguing the entire chip industry.
Apple's pro software sales are up too, as well as, Retail Store
sales of third party products are up too.
"Halo Effect" of iPod is driving up other sales in addition to the
increased demand of "switchers" & first time :adopters" of Macs
as their computer of choice. (50% of Retail computer sales)
Get the facts, get real or get out.
-Eyes wide open in Seatle-
- Revenue allocation
- I do read Apple's financials. I was not referring to increases in unit sales of specific computer models. Those increases are great news, but they don't have anything to do with how Apple's revenue is allocated. Eight years ago, virtually all of Apple's revenue was derived from sales of various high-margin computer products. I remember -- and this memory dates back more than eight years -- reading annual reports that boasted of a 50%+ margin! Today, a significant portion of Apple's revenue is derived from sales of one consumer product, the iPod. The margin (difference between cost and sale price) was slim to begin with, and it will only continue to drop.
What happens when the digital music player becomes a commodity item, available for $25 at Rite Aid? We have seen this with portable CD players, portable cassette players, and portable radios. We have seen it with computer memory, CD burners, and various other computer components. Why would digital music players be different?
I hope that Apple does not transition into a consumer products company, because consumer products will not allow a financial cushion. (The only consumer product Apple ought to have is a proper, entry-level Macintosh for less than $500, as a way of encouraging people to try the Macintosh.)
Regarding customers who buy an iPod and then buy a Macintosh, PC market share figures don't reveal an appreciable change, after several years of iPod mania. There may be a "halo effect", as you call it, but it certainly hasn't been demonstrated and quantified. - Reply to this comment
