Analyst Predicts iPod Sales to Triple

Yahoo! picks up an AP story about a research note by Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff, which predicts improved product availability and continued upbeat demand for iPods.

In the note, Neff stated iPod "shipment times have recently been scaled down to one to three days from a previous three- to five-day range." He said, "Our channel checks with retailers and component vendors indicate that demand for iPods (both nano and video iPod) continue to remain strong and could be significantly higher than our initial assumption for the holiday season."

Neff added that "hot products have historically seen sequential sales growth of 75 percent to 100 percent during the holiday season, a critical time for manufacturers and retailers," and now expected "iPod volume to triple to 14.1 million units in the first quarter, compared with an earlier estimate of 10.4 million." Neff also predicted "annual volume will nearly double to 44.8 million, about 11 million more than previously thought."