By
Nathan Eddy
22 October 2007 03:02PM
Tags:
apple | vars
Apple's fourth-quarter earnings, to be revealed on Monday, are expected to show positive fiscal growth and a continued increase in PC market share..
Brisk sales of the iPhone and the deployment of the iPod Touch are expected to contribute to an overall healthy quarter for Apple, which is expected to announce its fourth fiscal quarter earnings, ended September 30, on Monday after the close of the market. The announcement comes four days before the launch of Apple's highly anticipated Leopard OS X.
Over the quarter, Apple shares rose a healthy 25 percent, and Apple reported year-over-year sales of Mac-based systems jumped 33 percent, against the industry average of 13 percent. Sales show no indication of slowing as Apple's U.S. market share continues to expand. Apple increased its lead as the No. 3 seller of PCs, which accounts for 6.3 percent of the market, up from 5.7 percent a year ago.
The debut of Leopard's iCal Server in particular may allow Apple to attract new clients, says Steve Feldman, president of solution provider Graphtech. "I could see Apple gaining market share in relation to where they've been in the past, absolutely," he says. "If a company is thinking of major migration, Apple's solution is an attractive offering."
Not everyone views Apple's steady growth as positive, however.
Peter Shore, head of the design management department at solution provider DesignTech Services, said more people are starting to view Steve Jobs as the new Bill Gates. "Way back when, I would have said, 'Apple deserves their success,'" he says. "But in the past year I don't really feel that anymore. A lot of people feel like they've been left behind."
Apple's decision to lower the price of the iPhone two months after it debuted, a move which angered early adopters who had paid as much as US$600 for the device, rankles Shore as well. Job's decision to issue a US$100 credit to customers who paid full price was "transparent and embarrassing," Shore says. He laments the higher cost of products and lower quality control standards. "It's all about getting the PC user," he says. "The people who have stood by them from the beginning are feeling a little shafted."
Still, with the stock trading US$30 dollars above its July peak and deployment of the iPhone across Europe and the U.K. imminent, market analysts are predicting a rosy report come Monday.
At the close of the market Friday, Apple stock was trading at US$170.42.
See original article on CRN.com