Apple Inc (AAPL)

[fmikehugo]

08:00 AAPL Apple: Color on Leopard delay (92.19 )

JMP Securities notes AAPL announced yesterday afternoon it will be delaying its next-generation operating system, Leopard, until Oct. Firm had been anticipating its release in April or May and had heard just a few weeks ago it was scheduled to be released on time.

Firm does believe, however, that there may be some continued "pauses" in Mac sales as consumers wait for the computers to come out of the box with Leopard as opposed to buying a Mac now and paying an additional fee (~$150) for an upgrade.

They are reducing their 3Q07 and 4Q07 ests but are increasing their 1Q08 ests to reflect a shift in timing of purchases of Macs until the Dec Q. For FY07, they are reducing their rev est from $24.4 bln to $24.1 bln and EPS est from $3.19 to $3.16. For FY08, they raise their rev est from $29.6 bln to $30.0 bln and EPS est from $3.51 to $3.58...

Piper Jaffray says that while they are not convinced the delay is entirely related to the iPhone, the important part is they believe AAPL's product development remains robust, and the iPhone, Leopard, and other new products are coming.

Firm notes AAPL reaffirmed the on-time arrival of the iPhone in June as part of the announcement, which they see as a positive that outweighs the delay of Leopard.