Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf expects Apple to sell 13.3 million iPods in 2005, 23.5 million in 2006, and says more than 100 million Windows users will own iPods by 2008. In a detailed research note to clients, he said that when such critical mass is achieved, “Mac sales could surge if only a nominal fraction of this group make a purchase.” Wolf also said that a flash-based iPod could be “an opportunistic move to quickly capture an even higher share of the portable music player market.” However, Wolf does expect Apple’s iPod market share to slide to 60 percent, but said the company will be able to compete on price because of sales volume. Noting that Apple has successfully transformed into a US$10 billion company again, Wolf predicts Apple to reach 2005 revenues of $11.7 billion.
