Apple's October Mac Sales Lining Up for Record 5 Million+ Units in Quarter

AppleInsider reports on a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sharing data on U.S. Mac sales for the month of October from NPD. According to NPD's data, Apple's October Mac sales were up 19% year-over-year, putting the company on target to reach analyst estimates in the range of 5.1-5.3 million units for the full quarter.

Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray shared the latest domestic sales data from the NPD Group on Monday, which showed Mac sales up 19 percent year over year in the month of October. As sales continue to pick up leading up to Christmas, he sees Apple selling between 5.1 million and 5.3 million Macs during the December quarter.

Those numbers would represent year over year growth of between 23 percent and 28 percent. Consensus on Wall Street has called for Apple to report sales of about 5.2 million Macs during the quarter.

Apple last quarter reported sales of 4.89 million Macs, by far a company record. The company also guided toward record revenue and earnings for the current quarter, spurring analysts to push their Mac estimates to over 5 million.

As for the iPod, NPD reports that U.S. unit shipments are down about 18% year-over-year as consumers continue to shift away from dedicated music players and instead utilize smartphones for their portable music needs. But even that 18% decline appears to be smaller than anticipated, with analysts currently predicting a 20% drop for the full quarter. Based on the data, Munster suggests that Apple is on pace to sell approximately 16 million iPods in what is easily the company's biggest-selling quarter for the iPod each year.