KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple’s second fiscal quarter of 2015 will show moderate gains, with strong showings from the iPhone and Mac.
In a note obtained by AppleInsider on Saturday, the analyst is projecting iPhone, iPad, Mac shipments to come in at 58.2 million, 10.1 million and 4.5 million, respectively for Apple’s second fiscal quarter of 2015. Apple Watch is also off to a good start at 631,000 initial shipments.
Kuo expects the Mac to show substantial growth for the first half of 2015. He believes quarter two will show shipments of 4.5 million, a quarter-over-quarter decline of 17.5 percent, but predicts the combination of the new MacBook, a refreshed lineup, and back-to-school demand will drive sales of up to 5.5 million units headed into the fall.
As far as the Apple Watch goes, Kuo says it’s too early to gauge the success of the new wearable. He estimates 631,000 initial shipments. This is well below the average predictions of other analysts, who anticipated 2-3 million units. Kuo says his estimates are lower, due to labor shortages and low yield rates of Apple Watch components, such as the haptic feedback vibrator and the AMOLED display.
Kuo sees another drop in sales for the iPad, expecting the tablet to see a huge 52.7 percent decline to just over 10.1 million units. Kuo says “industry structural changes,”are to blame for the drop.
Kuo sees iPhone shipments as having “peaked,” expecting 58.2 million units, which would be another quarterly record for the company. (Apple shipped 43.7 million iPhone for the same quarter a year ago.)
Apple is scheduled to announce earnings for the second fiscal quarter of 2015, today, April 27. A conference call will follow around 2:00PM Pacific time, 5:00PM Eastern. MacTrast will provide coverage of the earnings announcement and the call.
