Notes on the PC Market
Although Apple (AAPL - Analyst Report) serves a somewhat different client base, it does compete with Dell (DELL - Analyst Report), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Analyst Report) amongst others. The desktop market has declined significantly, and this will impact the computer companies and their suppliers.
Intel (INTC - Analyst Report) has announced their results and they were not good. Western Digital (WDC - Snapshot Report) and NVIDIA (NVDA - Analyst Report) have guided numbers downward; Sanmina-SCI (SANM - Analyst Report) numbers were disappointing; Sony (SNE - Analyst Report) is pointing to a loss.
Next week, Canon (CAJ - Analyst Report) will announce results (29 January). CAJ is a major supplier of printers to HPQ, and printer sales tend to follow computer sales.
We do not expect the situation to reverse itself in the next six months. A significant percentage of computer purchases are made by corporations, and capital spending lags corporate profits.
Read the full analyst report on AAPL.
Read the full analyst report on DELL.
Read the full analyst report on HPQ.
Read the full analyst report on INTC.
Read the full analyst report on NVDA.
Read the full analyst report on SANM.