Following a similar warning from Prudential Equity Group yesterday, UBS said today that the “key risk” on Apple in the near-term “remains IBM’s ability to produce enough G5 chips.” According to the firm, IBM is devoting more resources to the issue, but is still facing production problems. “As a result, Power Mac shipments should face yield issues into fiscal first quarter 2005 and a new iMac to be launched later this month to strong demand, should be met with shortages.” Overall, UBS expects “Apple could still deliver significant sequential improvement into calendar fourth quarter 2004, with its own product cycles (iPod & iMac, etc.) that should be able to insulate it somewhat from macro-economic issues.”
