Analyst: new products, back-to-school promo should help drive Apple sales
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Aug 19, 2008 at 1:36pm
New products and aggressive back-to-school promotions by Apple should help drive sales and give the company a boost in the current quarter, according to Gene Munster, an analyst with the Piper Jaffray & Co. research group.
In a note to consumers (as reported by the Associated Press ) he reiterated a “Buy” recommendation, based partly on a promotion Apple is running through Sept. 15. He said Apple is giving a US$299 rebate on iPods, up from $199 in previous years, when purchased with some Mac computers by students, teachers and others who qualify for an education discount.
The more generous rebate will lower profit margins, but Munster said Apple appeared to have factored that in when releasing its guidance for gross margins—31.5 percent in the current quarter despite a strong 34.8 percent in the quarter ending in June. The analyst also expects Apple to announce new products in September, including redesigned MacBooks and new iPods with increased storage and possibly lower prices.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
