Apple: January Mac Units Down 6%; iPods Down 14%

Apple (AAPL) suffered declining year-over-year U.S. retail sales of both Macs and iPods in January, according to new data from market research firm NPD . As several analysts noted this morning, NPD reported Apple retail Mac units fell 6% year-over-year in January, with revenue down 11% year over year. For iPods, units were down 14%. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says the Mac data implies March quarter units of 2 million to 2.2 million Macs, compared to the Street consensus at 2.2 million.  He notes that Mac units face a tough comparison in February and March due to the launch in February 2008 of the MacBook Air. Munster says the new iPod data suggests Q1 units of 9 million to 10 million, with the Street expecting 9.5 million. Munster contends the new data is “essentially in line with previous Street expectations.” Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig noted that NPD showed overall U.S. retail PC sales growing 2% year over year in January. He points out that Apple lost ... (link)