Apple’s flat-panel iMac hit the market last January to enormous public interest and media fanfare, but availability of the system was scant for the first couple of months as Apple ramped up manufacturing. Now News.com’s Ian Fried reports that the systems are piling up in distributors’ warehouses.
Fried claims that major computer distributor Ingram Micro has more than 15 weeks’ worth of inventory of the iMac in stock, which worries some analysts. In recent weeks analysts have become concerned about the sell-through rate of the iMac, and this news seems to confirm their suspicions.
Fried noted that Apple’s problem is twofold: The company is attempting to sell iMacs during a particularly soft time in the consumer computer business, and it’s also trying to move units prior to Macworld Expo, which happens next month in New York. Many dyed-in-the-wool Mac users prefer to schedule their hardware purchases after such events, which Apple has historically used to time the release of updated hardware configurations.
An analyst quoted by Fried suggested it’s the result of a general malaise in the desktop computer market itself, as many consumers now prefer to use laptop computers.