Will Apple's Mac business sales experience "Shrinkage"?

Cleve Nettles
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April 20, 2009
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That's the big question on everyone's minds as Apple's earnings call looms.  Everyone from NPD to Gartner has predicted shrinkage.  On the flip side, Apple did release a whole new set of Minis, iMacs and Mac Pros (and even a new XServe) this quarter which usually includes some pent up demand purchasing.  Will Apple surprise everyone with flat sales or maybe even slightly higher than last year's figures?  We'd love to see Apple buck the recession.

If not, they could always say they were in the pool.

Comments (11)

Mark (not verified) | April 20, 2009 - 4:52pm

Count on more upside to their Mac sales than anticipated. A lot of pent-up demand for a new iMac model, and the Mac Pro will also surprise, giving way to Apple holding it's own and a wee bit more.

Going with 7% year-over-year Mac unit growth.

Considering the economy one-year ago and the launch of the MacBook Air, if Apple is even flat with last year, it will be an incredible feat.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 20, 2009 - 9:10pm

They were in the pool!

admin | April 21, 2009 - 2:14pm
James (not verified) | April 21, 2009 - 1:20am

I understand that the Apple Business partners are about to receive quite a significant cull in employment...
That can't be a good sign for Apple business sales can it?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 21, 2009 - 3:20am

I would like to see apple SUFFER because the greedy b*stards have put prices UP in the UK, maybe if they suffer a little they'll stop trying to screw every last penny out of us.

9to5Mac regular (not verified) | April 21, 2009 - 6:20am

Apple is greedy yes... but companies tend to be greedy in general!

And dude, I think the higher prices in the UK have something to do with the plummeting British Pound vs the US Dollar AND the Euro.

ulfoaf | April 21, 2009 - 9:38am

 

Don't people know about these things??

Seriously, feel lucky if you work for a company that is growing. Mine is definitely not.  Nearly the whole world has been affected by a world recession. For Apple to be unaffected would be amazing. They make a premier product with a premier price. People on the edge of switching to a Mac probably pulled back and bought a cheap netbook instead .... I confess I'd like one (with Linux) to supplement my Macs.

Now is the time to hit the R&D hard, so great new products will be ready when consumers have more money they are comfortable spending!

Apple greedy? They price 'em at a level we are willing to buy 'em, apparently, as most of us reading here have 'em. That is just a business decision. Remember any company worth anything wants to maximize their profits, not just make a profit. I wouldn't own stock in any business that did not have that attitude. No like, no buy.

If you haven't owned one, you are missing out on a great experience. You will quickly decide any INITIAL price difference is well worth it, because of the crap you don't have to put up with later. The price is made up in headaches, antivirus software and resale value alone.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 21, 2009 - 10:24am

Wow. You turned into a commercial at the end there.

By the way, Apple's doing okay, because their target audience isn't people feeling the recession.

It's people with cash to burn or good credit.
Those people will always exist, regardless of the overall situation.

Call them the 8-percenters :)

ulfoaf | April 21, 2009 - 5:05pm

LOL ... No commercial, just personal experience. Bought a used iMac cheap to play with and never looked back after 20 years of Windows. Sooo much easier maintenence wise, and a more powerful O/S. Check eBay to see how they retain value!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 21, 2009 - 2:08pm

Maybe I'm missing something here...Nobody seems to be talking about revenues from iTunes and the App store. Apple is not just in the hardware game anymore. A big chunk of Apple's sales are not coming from hardware, but from music and movies sold through iTunes. With the iPhone taking off like crazy, apps are also being sold, (almost 1B since launch); at prices from $0 to $10. Apple is not just a hardware company, and you can't estimate their earnings just based on the number of iPods or Macs they've sold.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 22, 2009 - 12:46pm

The entire economy in the USA is experiencing "shrinkage." When a company lays off workers, fewer computers (Macs or Windows PCs) are needed.

Nobody is talking about Apple's meteoric increase in Higher Education sales. Macs are gradually taking over college campuses. The takeover would be complete, if only Macs were more price-competitive with PCs. A $1200 PC for a lab or a classroom is much more lucrative to a purchasing manager than a $2000 Mac.

The amount of time and money spent on maintenance is more with a PC than with MacIntoshes, but organizations of all types fail to factor in lots of seemingly small ongoing support costs.....