(Page 2 of 2) Apple reports its first-quarter results Tuesday. Meanwhile, we asked Kitagawa to give us her opinion about the U.S. PC market segments in which Apple had likely experienced the strongest growth.
"At this stage, I would say that Apple's growth in the first quarter of 2012 was mainly in the consumer market," Kitagawa said Monday. "But we saw growth in the professional market [for Apple] as well."
Apple's Consumer Appeal
Apple's U.S. sales are traditionally strong in the education market, Kitagawa said.
"But the first quarter is not a sales season for education institutions, so we don't think that education market was a contributor of the growth," she said.
The latest data from NPD suggests that Apple's domestic Mac shipments were down 5 percent during the first three months of the year, according to Piper Jaffray. The investment firm's analysts said Apple's global Mac unit shipment growth during the period also could fall short of Wall Street expectations of 14 percent year-over-year growth.
"[NPD data] suggests Mac sales in the range of 4.1 million to 4.4 million, or 9 percent to 17 percent year-over-year growth," Munster and Clinton said last week. On the other hand, the analysts continue "to expect strong iPhone and iPad results, offsetting potential Mac softness."
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