Apple Q4: Looking Good!

Apple turned in another good quarter, which appeared to surprise some financial pundits who feared that the super premium priced offerings of Cupertino would get hit on the chin given the economic slowdown. Not so.



But the different readings of product sales charts like the above, to me, show how any chart can be interpreted in diametrically opposite ways. Case in point is the one above.

What I see, and remember that i am no great Apple lover, is growth across the board, in PCs, iPods, and of course iPhones. Apple PC sales are up despite their universally higher price points. What is it? Cool factor? Design? Whatever it is, to eke out growth in this environment seems impressive. And it also causes me to reinterpret the ad campaign that they have been running for so long. I used to think it was about PCs, but now what I really think it is about is Apple the company.

iPod sales are also up, if modestly. But I am surprised they can continue to grow that business now that the memories on the iPhones are getting larger.

And of course the explosive growth of iPhone proves the underlying principle of Apple's product diversification strategy.

Others have looked at the chart and seen basically unimpressive numbers for computers and iPods. Who's right? Well, that really depends upon what YOU see in the chart.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.