Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities says Apple will post positive results for the fourth quarter of 2012, with strong iOS device sales making up for iPad mini and iMac supply chain issues.
In a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider on Tuesday, the well-connected Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities expects Apple to post good fourth quarter earnings despite worries sparked by recent rumblings of iPhone shipment cuts. In fact, the analyst believes that Apple’s handset will be one of the few product lines to beat consensus.
Kuo believes the iPhone and iPad saw quarter-to-quarter shipments rise over the last 3 months of 2012, but warned that shipments of specific devices in the two lineups might fall short of expectations.
While some have been concentrating on significant cuts to parts orders Apple reportedly made in December, Kuo has checked the supply chain and says Apple shipped 52 million units during quarter four to be up 93 percent quarter-on-quarter and up 41 percent year-to-year.
The iPhone 5 hit more than 35 million units in the fourth quarter, a 3.5% negative adjustment to Kuo’s previous forecast of 36.5 million. Q4 shipments of the iPhone 4S and 4S came in at at 9.5 million and 7.3 million, respectively.
Kuo forecasts iPads shipped to be 23 million units shipped for the three-month period ending in December, a 49% increase from Q4 a year ago. The 4th-generation iPad will come in with 9.3 million units shipped, and the iPad mini will make a showing of 8.2 million units shipped. The estimates are down slightly due to poor demand for the full-sized iPad, and supply chain difficulties for the smaller version of the popular tablet.
Kuo estimates that total MacBook shipments for last quarter will be near 3.9 million units, up 7% from a year ago.
iMac shipments were down 18% from the prior three months, and 46.5% year-over-year. Shipment delays can be blamed for the drop, as Apple prepared to rollout the newly redesigned model of their popular all-in-one desktop model.
