Analyst: Apple Growth Up 36% in '06


The jury is still out, but American Technology Research analyst Swan Wu has put his money where his mouth is and is betting on strong Apple growth this year, Macworld UK reports.

Why? Because Wu believes that "arguably the industry's most powerful and complete stack of hardware, software, and service addressing the digital entertainment space."

Wu also thinks Apple has been cautious in its forecasts on iPod demand, basing this on evidence of the impact of Shuffle price cuts and the 1GB Nano introduction. 'Non-Apple channels' have picked up the latter two models, expanding iPod's retail reach.

Wu's revised forecast is up $60 million in sales for the quarter, while unit shipments of iPod are expected to be 1.1 million higher than previous estimates.

He also expects Apple to deliver a staggering year of almost $20 billion ($19.4 billion) for the company's fiscal 2006.

Analysis: Well, as a recent purchaser of a black 1GB iPod, I've got to admit I was sold on the price/features. The 1GB Shuffle is also a good buy. According to other sources, demand for the video iPod is also still very strong, defying the post-Xmas sales slowdown. But will iMac drive the bottom line sufficiently? And the Mini and MacBook Pro? Come April, we'll know the impact of the Intel transition.