Google (NASDAQ:
GOOG
) is expected to sell 9.6 million Nexus tablets next year.
Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson had
originally forecasted
sales as high as 14.6 million in 2013. Wilson has reduced this
figure because the Nexus 7 has not sold as quickly as he
expected.
However, it is very difficult to gauge exactly how many
tablets Google might sell in the coming year. The search engine
giant did not even enter the tablet space until it released the
first iteration of the Nexus 7 last summer. At that time, Apple
(NASDAQ:
AAPL
) was the dominant player in the market. The Mac maker has
retained that title, albeit with increased competition from
Amazon (NASDAQ:
AMZN
) and other tech giants.
During the summer Amazon announced that it had completely sold
out of the first-generation Kindle Fire and commanded
22 percent
of the domestic tablet market. The company
set a new record for Kindle sales
on November 26, AKA Cyber Monday.
Thus far, Wilson estimates that the Nexus 7 will have sold
four million units by the end of 2012. This falls in line with
the sales estimate provided by Asus, which manufactures the
seven-inch tablet. David Chang, the company's Chief Financial
Officer, said that while the device initially sold 500,000 units
per month, the Nexus 7 has now approached
one million in monthly sales
.
Google, which is trading up roughly two percent this
afternoon, has jumped 13 percent over the last six months.
Year-to-date the company is up more than one percent.
Amazon is enjoying a similar gain of 14 percent over the last
six months. Year-to-date, the online retailer is up more than 36
percent, adding to the company's five-year increase of 170
percent.
Apple is not performing nearly as well. While the company is
still up more than 42 percent year-to-date, the iPhone maker has
dropped more than 13 percent over the last three months. There
have been a few signs of recovery, however. Over the last two
weeks, Apple climbed more than 11 percent.
It is not yet clear why investors have started to return. They
initially abandoned the stock after Apple announced that
more than five million consumers
purchased the iPhone 5 during its first weekend of availability.
This set a new record for the company, but it was well below the
expectations of several analysts, who had predicted that Apple
would sell as many as 10 million units during the three-day
period. Analysts were much more conservative about their
predictions for the iPad Mini and the fourth-generation iPad,
which went on to sell
three million units
(combined) during their first weekend on store shelves. Investors
were not impressed.
Instead of raw sales data, investors seem to be more intrigued
by
rumors and speculation
surrounding the company's future line of products. It is not yet
known which devices Apple will produce in 2013, but many analysts
expect a new television to be one of them. In doing so, Apple
would compete head-to-head with Sony (NYSE:
SNE
), Panasonic (NYSE:
PC
), Sharp, Vizio and other TV manufacturers. Apple's television
would also compete against products from its arch rival --
Samsung.
Despite the hoopla of hype surrounding Apple's first
television, Google and Amazon are not believed to be developing
their own TV sets.
However, Google already attempted to refine the living room
entertainment experience by releasing numerous iterations of
Google TV, a Smart TV platform co-developed by Sony, Intel
(NASDAQ:
INTC
) and Logitech (NASDAQ:
LOGI
). This venture
has not been successful
for Google or its partners. In 2011, Logitech announced that it
experienced
more returns than sales
for its Google TV-based set top box, the Logitech Revue.
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(c) 2012 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
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