“Antennagate” be damned, Apple is still riding high on the cash horse. According to a poll by Thomson Reuters, Apple is looking at an earning average of $3.10 per share, which should equate to nearly $15 bn in revenue. The primary source of income? 8.35 million iPhones.
Though other devices will of course make an appearance, the iPhone 4’s overall success will be the leading factor. By way of comparison, Apple is expected to sell 9.8 million iPods, 3.2 million Macs and 3.3 million iPad devices. Though the 9.8 million iPods are significant, the profit margin on the device is lacking in its current version.
It seems, though, that another group has higher expectations for the big fruit. In a poll from Fortune Magazine, the earnings per share number jumps to $3.64, for $15.67 bn. Why does this number matter? Because this group of nine bloggers often bests Wall Street analysts for predictions. What’s more? That’s a $1.67 bn growth from Q2 2010.
While Apple might have surpassed Microsoft for a short period of time in overall valuation, a question raised by Apple Insider is whether Apple can actually best Microsoft in bottom line revenue this quarter. According to the blog, Microsoft is only expected to see a $15.25 bn revenue number. We can only speculate that a part of this lower-than-average earnings prediction has to do with the utter failure of the KIN phones and the slow sales of Office 2010.
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As the rumors continue to fly about a revamped antenna system (or some other change to eliminate the “deathgrip” issues), Apple is poised to take off exponentially against the Redmond giant. However, if Apple does not manage to come through with the expected sales of the iPhone 4, all points might very well become moot, and in a hurry.
We will know today, after the closing bell on Wall Street. By the by, I do mean “peek”, and not “peak”.
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