Digitimes Sources Suggest MacBook Shipments Could Reach 4 million in 3Q13, Others Skeptical

Digitimes’ Aaron Lee, and Adam Hwang say an estimated four million MacBooks will be shipped in the third quarter of 2013, increasing over 10% on quarter, but significantly decreasing from previous years, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. That sounds more than a tad high given that Apple sold fewer than 4 million Mac systems of all models in the just-completed quarter.

Lee and Hwang note that quarterly MacBook shipments usually peak in the third quarter due to the year-end sales peak, with third-quarter shipments averaging 5-6 million units in past years, the sources indicated. Electronista disputes that metric (http://goo.gl/lMWnFX), noting that Apple reported four million Macs (of all kinds) sold in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2012.

Apple revised the MacBook Pro in 2012 and then increased 13-inch MacBook Pro orders in anticipation of good sales, the sources noted. But actual sales of the 13-inch MacBook Pro fell far short of expectations, with Apple clearing inventories and suspending orders in the first half of 2013, the sources said, but Lee and Hwang report that Apple has taken stricter control of its supply chain, including introducing new suppliers, to put pressure on existing ones, the sources indicated. In addition, order visibility has become shorter than in the past, the sources noted.

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