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October 20, 2010, 12:16 AM EDT
By Adam Satariano
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is likely to unveil a new version of the Macintosh notebook computer and add features to the software that runs it, refreshing the company?s second-best-selling line of products.
Jobs, due to appear at an event at Apple?s headquarters today in Cupertino, California, will probably show an upgraded MacBook Air notebook, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners LP. Apple will provide a ?sneak peek? at features for its Mac operating system, according to the event invitation.
Sales of Macintoshes rose 22 percent to $4.87 billion last quarter, making up 24 percent of revenue. Jobs is upgrading the line in time for year-end holidays and to benefit as rising demand for iPhones and other Apple electronics lures shoppers to the Mac. More than half of Mac purchases in the company?s retail stores in the most recent period were from first-time buyers.
?I don?t hear enough people talking about the halo effect,? said Gillis, who is based in New York and recommends buying the stock. ?As more customers are being exposed to Apple products they are spending more of their computer dollars on Apple.?
Apple sold a record 3.89 million Macs in the fourth quarter, a 27 percent increase from last year. The gains helped Apple nudge aside Acer Inc. to become the No. 3 U.S. PC seller in the period that ended in September, behind Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC. Apple?s best-selling product is the iPhone.
Apple dropped $8.51, or 2.7 percent, to $309.49 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares, up 47 percent this year, surpassed $300 last week.
Sales Staff Boost
Yesterday?s stock slump came a day after Apple predicted narrowing gross margins and profit that missed some analysts? estimates, an indication that it?s making less from each iPhone and iPad it sells.
The company also said it?s adding sales staff to court more business customers as the Macintosh gains popularity among corporate clients. Enterprise sales will become a larger piece of the Mac business, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said on an Oct. 18 conference call.
Apple typically upgrades the Mac line in October. At last year?s Mac event, Apple introduced larger-screen versions of its iMac and updated its MacBook notebook. The company?s last version of its operating system, called Snow Leopard, was unveiled in June 2009 and shipped two months later.
The invitation to today?s event included a picture of a lion behind an Apple logo, indicating the next operating system will be called ?Lion,? Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers LP, said in a research note last week.
Apple may also use today?s event to add features to its iLife software, which includes tools for editing photos and video and making music, he said.
Engineers at Apple could give the Mac a touch screen -- something already available on the iPhone and iPad, Wu said.
?We are not sure if this technology is ready for primetime but perhaps we could get a sneak peek,? Wu said.
--With assistance from Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco. Editors: Tom Giles, Nick Turner.
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Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is likely to unveil a new version of the Macintosh notebook computer and add features to the software that runs it, refreshing the company?s second-best-selling line of products.
Jobs, due to appear at an event at Apple?s headquarters today in Cupertino, California, will probably show an upgraded MacBook Air notebook, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners LP. Apple will provide a ?sneak peek? at features for its Mac operating system, according to the event invitation.
Sales of Macintoshes rose 22 percent to $4.87 billion last quarter, making up 24 percent of revenue. Jobs is upgrading the line in time for year-end holidays and to benefit as rising demand for iPhones and other Apple electronics lures shoppers to the Mac. More than half of Mac purchases in the company?s retail stores in the most recent period were from first-time buyers.
?I don?t hear enough people talking about the halo effect,? said Gillis, who is based in New York and recommends buying the stock. ?As more customers are being exposed to Apple products they are spending more of their computer dollars on Apple.?
Apple sold a record 3.89 million Macs in the fourth quarter, a 27 percent increase from last year. The gains helped Apple nudge aside Acer Inc. to become the No. 3 U.S. PC seller in the period that ended in September, behind Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC. Apple?s best-selling product is the iPhone.
Apple dropped $8.51, or 2.7 percent, to $309.49 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares, up 47 percent this year, surpassed $300 last week.
Sales Staff Boost
Yesterday?s stock slump came a day after Apple predicted narrowing gross margins and profit that missed some analysts? estimates, an indication that it?s making less from each iPhone and iPad it sells.
The company also said it?s adding sales staff to court more business customers as the Macintosh gains popularity among corporate clients. Enterprise sales will become a larger piece of the Mac business, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said on an Oct. 18 conference call.
Apple typically upgrades the Mac line in October. At last year?s Mac event, Apple introduced larger-screen versions of its iMac and updated its MacBook notebook. The company?s last version of its operating system, called Snow Leopard, was unveiled in June 2009 and shipped two months later.
The invitation to today?s event included a picture of a lion behind an Apple logo, indicating the next operating system will be called ?Lion,? Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers LP, said in a research note last week.
Apple may also use today?s event to add features to its iLife software, which includes tools for editing photos and video and making music, he said.
Engineers at Apple could give the Mac a touch screen -- something already available on the iPhone and iPad, Wu said.
?We are not sure if this technology is ready for primetime but perhaps we could get a sneak peek,? Wu said.
--With assistance from Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco. Editors: Tom Giles, Nick Turner.
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