Apple Q1 iPad Shipments May Miss Street View: Analyst

Technology giant Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may report first-quarter shipments below consensus expectations, according to an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw.

Rodman & Renshaw estimates that iPad volumes in the current quarter will be 12-13 million, which is 1-2 million shy of expectations. Consensus estimates call for 14-15 million iPad shipments in the December quarter. In the September quarter, Apple shipped about 11 million iPads.

Our checks indicate that production volumes have been scaled back due to moderating sell-through, analyst Ashok Kumar wrote in a note to clients.

The analyst also expects Amazon to ship upwards of 4 million Kindle Fires in the current quarter and said the tablet/e-reader segment is in its infancy and is premature to view it as a zero sum game.

But if volumes continue to disappoint, Ultrabooks may end up being the more enduring product category, Kumar said.