Following Apple’s robust earnings and shipment numbers yesterday, two analysts said today that the so-called iPod “halo effect” was behind the increase in Mac sales. “There is quantitative proof of the halo effect,” Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich said in a research note obtained by MacMinute. “Mac revenue increased by 29% year over year, clearly gaining share in a PC market showing little dollar growth.
Read MoreAnalysts say the new low-price Mac mini could incite more Windows users who own iPods to buy their first Mac, providing a boost to the so called “halo effect.” Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co., said that he now estimates 11 percent of Windows iPod users may switch to a Mac now that the Mac mini is coming to market. Before that, he assumed the rate would be closer to 4 percent. “The iPods only failure has been its inability to stimulate meaningful purchases of Macintoshes,” Wolf said.
Read MoreTwo Wall Street Journal writers received reader responses that support the fact that the iPod “halo effect” is working. “In Monday’s column, we predicted that the combination of the iPod’s popularity and the increasing worry over viruses, security holes and spyware in Windows PCs will lead to the second coming of Apple as a home-computing power,” write Tim Hanrahan and Jason Fry.
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