Mac Sales Remain Flat in July, 5% Year Over Year Drop Expected for September Quarter

Apple's Mac sales continue to come in flat year over year, according to a new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster who looked at July data from market research firm NPD.

Based on the data, he maintains his outlook of a 5% year over year drop in Mac sales for the September quarter and continues to note that Mac sales are becoming less significant in light of iPhone and iPad sales, representing just 15% of Apple's total revenue.

As with his previous reports, Munster notes that it remains difficult to extrapolate NPD data to Apple's global sales performance, but he views the July data as “neutral to slight positive,” down from slightly negative in a June report.

Overall, we believe this July data point is likely a neutral to slight positive given that Macs should have a slight tailwind from updated Macbooks in June. We remain comfortable with our down 5% y/y estimate for Macs in the September quarter.

As for iPods, Munster's analysis of NPD data suggests that units are down 41% year over year on a global basis and that iPods will remain down 20% year over year for the September quarter. Because iPods now represent just 2% of all Apple’s revenue, the overall impact of this sales decline is minor.