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Apple (AAPL) Likely to Launch New Macs With Four M2 Chip Variants

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Apple (AAPL - Free Report) is likely to launch new Macs with four M2 chip variants — Pro, Ultra, Max, and Extreme — this year, per a latest newsletter by Bloomberg journalist, Mark Gurman, cited by 9TO5Mac.

Apart from new iPhones touted as iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, which are most likely to be launched in September, Gurman also expects the launches of a Mac Mini and Mac Mini Pro powered by the M2 chip.

Apple is also expected to launch Watch Series 8 and second-generation Watch SE later this year.

Moreover, Gurman expects a new HomePod to be released by Apple in 2023.

 

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote

 

Apple’s Expanding Portfolio to Boost Growth

Apple has been struggling so far in 2022, primarily due to coronavirus-induced supply-chain disruptions, industry-wide silicon shortage, unfavorable forex and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Shares of the iPhone-maker have been down 20.2% year to date although it has managed to outperform the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s decline of 27.7%.

The near-term outlook is not enthusiastic, given the headwinds. Apple did not provide revenue guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2022. Apple expects COVID-induced supply chain disruptions and the industry-wide silicon shortage to hurt its top line by $4-$8 billion. Unfavorable forex is also expected to hurt revenues by 300 basis points (bps).

Moreover, the absence of revenues from Russia is expected to hurt the top line by 150 bps. Apple paused all sales in Russia during the fiscal second quarter (March quarter).

Nevertheless, the company’s expanding portfolio brightens its prospects. The new M2 chips are expected to boost demand for new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, thereby improving Apple’s competitive position against the likes of Lenovo, Dell Technologies (DELL - Free Report) and HP (HPQ - Free Report) .

Per Gartner, worldwide PC shipments in the first quarter of 2022 witnessed a year-over-year decrease of 6.8%, reaching 77.9 million units. Both Lenovo and HP witnessed decline in market share while Dell and Apple’s shares gained.

Dell, Apple and ASUS were the only vendors that witnessed shipment growth in first-quarter 2022. Dell shipped 13.804 million units, witnessing 6.1% year-over-year growth in said time period, per the Gartner report.

Apple shipped 7.005 million units, witnessing 8.6% year-over-year growth. HP shipped 15.863 million units, down 17.8% year over year.

Moreover, the new watchOS9 updates (announced during Worldwide Developer Conference) will strengthen Apple Watch’s features, helping it steer off competition from the likes of Garmin (GRMN - Free Report) , which has been constantly innovating in this domain.

Garmin recently unveiled a running smartwatch called the Forerunner 955 Solar with solar charging capability. The latest device expands Garmin’s portfolio of fitness offerings, adding strength to its fitness segment.

Meanwhile, the Services portfolio has emerged as Apple’s new cash cow. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company had more than 825 million paid subscribers across its Services portfolio at the end of fiscal second quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

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