Mac sales still on pause, admits Apple

Customers await Intel systems and software…

Apple is still dealing with a pause in Mac sales as customers wait for new Intel-based systems, and it shipped more Intel-based Macs than PowerPC-based Macs in March after the release of the MacBook Pro, the company said on Wednesday.

Mac sales grew just four per cent in the company’s second quarter as compared with the previous year but overall revenue grew 34 per cent to $4.36bn during the quarter. That was below analyst expectations but net income was much stronger than expected. Stronger iPod growth compared with last year helped drive overall growth as Mac sales hesitated in the midst of Apple’s switch to Intel’s chips, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call following the company’s announcement.

Apple said the “pause” in Mac sales that the company saw during the previous quarter continued. Although Apple introduced the first Intel-based Macs in January, some of the products didn’t ship until February and the company has yet to update its Power Mac and iBook lines.

Some customers are waiting for the rest of Apple’s product line to move to Intel chips and for more software developers to create Intel-native versions of their software, Oppenheimer said.

Full story: silicon.com