Partners Believe Apple Can Maintain Growth
The question is, can Apple sustain this momentum? Apple resellers believe the current interest in products such as the iPhone and iPad isn't going to fade anytime soon.
"The iPhone has been around for [nearly] three years, and has dominated with regard to its market growth, technology and appeal," said Tim Hassett, principal of Appogee, a Greenville, N.C.-based Apple reseller. "Apple products are well beyond being temporary fads."
"The market underestimates the earnings power of Apple's mobile Internet devices," Huberty said in a recent note to clients, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We view the combination of new product launches, broader distribution [carrier, international, enterprise], more attractive pricing and strong upgrade rates as the key demand drivers over the next two years."
Apple began selling the iPad in April and passed the one million mark in devices sold in less than a month. In its next quarterly earnings call, Apple will begin reporting iPad sales, and while the company is selling them at razor thin margins to drive more demand, the fact that many Apple stores are currently sold out of iPads shows that consumers are embracing the product.
Michael Oh, founder and CEO of Boston-based Apple reseller Tech Superpowers, predicts that the trend of hot iPad sales will continue because Apple stores have been effective showcases for the product.
"Apple has retail stores in every major and minor metropolitan area in the country and most areas in Europe, so new product releases reverberate for them for months afterward because of how effective these stores are at showing people the product in their hometowns," Oh said.
Mark Greenblatt, president of Los Angeles-based Apple reseller MacEnthusiast, says Apple has nothing to worry about in terms of what other companies have up their sleeves.
"What other consumer electronics company has the capability to create game-changing hardware and software in-house?” he said. "Apple is so far ahead of the competition with (its) mature OS X operating system -- and its derivatives -- that competitors will forever be playing catch-up."
Nick Gold, senior account executive for Baltimore, Md.-based Apple VAR Chesapeake Systems, expects Apple to continue selling record numbers of Macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads. But he acknowledges that Apple, like any company facing stiff competition, can't afford to slow down.
The key to achieving continued growth lies in Apple sticking to an aggressive product rollout cycle, according to Oh. "At the current rate, Apple will need to continue to release innovative products and show strong sales figures from them in a six-month cycle. “With both the iPad and iPhone, they may be able to maintain that momentum," he said.
The iPhone has driven Apple's mobile business to the point where company executives now refer to their firm as a mobile device company. But Mac sales will continue to play a crucial role in maintaining Apple's current growth, notes Oh.
"Apple has been pushing all of these smaller devices, but the Mac share of the PC market has been growing,” Oh said. “I think that this is eventually the biggest place where Apple can gain; however, this takes much more than just glitzy new hardware. It'll be a long hard struggle to get market share in the PC world.”