Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to maintain its leadership in the tablet market for the foreseeable future, according to the latest research report by Mizuho Equity Research. Additionally, the report indicates that Apple’s iPhone 5 component vendors are currently operating at near peak, owing to the high demand for the new iPhone device.
The high demand for Apple’s newest device has pushed Taiwan and Korean manufacturers to levels of production never witnessed before, as witnessed in our earlier article, where Foxconn workers expressed that they were working extra hours in order to meet Apple’s iPhone 5 demand.
The manufacturers revealed that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) still leads the charts in the tablet business, following the launch of its new iPad devices. Additionally, the analysts believe that the prospective launch of iPad mini, which is targeted at the lower end of the market, will further boost Apple’s dominance in the industry.
The analysts believe that the current slowdown in consumer spending, as compared to enterprise spending, which still remains steady, is going to affect the forthcoming holiday season spending. The analysts believe that consumers will likely exercise caution during the holiday season, as economic conditions continue to bite.
Additionally, Apple has reduced the pricing for its older versions of the iPhone, and the analysts believe that due to tough economic conditions, the iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S, will continue attracting more customers from the low-end market, which will further enhance Apple’s September quarter and December quarter performance results.
Mizuho Equity Research analysts expect Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to ship about 26 million iPhone in the September quarter, while at least 50 million units of iPhones will be sold in the December quarter. This is very close to the consensus estimate of about 55 million units, from a cross-section of equity analysts.
While Macroeconomic factors still are a major predicament to consumer spending, Apple still maintains an outperform rating from Mizuho for both September and December quarters. Additionally, the analysts believe that Apple has planned well for the likely outstretched demand for the new iPhone 5, in readiness for the launch in the additional 22 countries, and will therefore not be experiencing any major problems in supply.
At the time of this writing, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), was trading at $661.76, down $3.42, or a 0.51% decline from yesterday’s close.
