The really fast rollout in 4S (and in some way Ipad and probably iphone 5) move sales from future quarter into the launch quarter and my guess is that we will start seeing very lumpy sales number going forward with this fast rollout strategy. It is not good for stock price nor managing the manufacturing base. It reinforce the idea that Apple is a cyclical company instead of a growth company and does not deserve a premium P/E mulitiple. I see a couple of things wrong in here. First, you're implying that it's better for Apple to have supply constraints when launching a new product. In the fast moving mobile markets, I think being able to satisfy demand is better.
I note that the new iPad is still supply constrained, and this reduced sales in fiscal Q2. Sure, some of those sales will be captured in Q3, but with the competitive environment always in flux, one is better off having a buying in the hand, than one in the bush.
As far as Apple being cyclical and therefore not a growth company, when the low parts of the cycle continue to be higher than previous lows, and when the high parts continue to represent new highs, I don't think you can logically argue that Apple isn't a growth company. Denying that is like arguing that AAPL isn't a growth stock because the the chart isn't linear. |
