Apple 10Q: MacBook Air drives huge Q2 Mac sales

 Apple kept it close to its chest during its financial results conference last week, but it seems the company has yet another singular success on its hands with the MacBook Air, which the company’s Form 10Q SEC filing today says was the primary driver of increased Mac net and unit sales in the quarter.

In black and white, the note (on page 26 of the report) reads: “The increases in Mac net sales and unit sales were driven primarily by sales of the new MacBook Air, introduced in January 2008, and higher sales of the iMac and other Mac portable systems.”

The report notes Mac unit growth of 51 per cent and 48 per cent in the second quarter of Q2 and first six months of 2008 respectively, observing the rate of growth strongly exceeds the industry average.

Apple’s laptop sales climbed 61 per cent, with 2.29 million Macs sold in Q2, 1.433 million of Macs sold were laptops.

While its interesting that Apple seems to have nailed the lighweight laptop category with the MacBook Air, this may be scant comfort to some early adopters of the first generation machine, with numerous complaints noting some (but not all) of these have a tendency to overheat during normal use. 

The report also notes iPod sales climbed, albeit slightly, but observes strong sales of the iPod touch, with consumers favouring that device above the purchase of the iPod shuffle.

The report also confirms research-&-development spending climbed 49 per cent, or $90 million to $273 million in Q2 08, compared to Q2 07. “The Company continues to believe that focused investments in R&D are critical to its future growth and competitive position in the marketplace and are directly related to timely development of new and enhanced products that are central to the Company’s core business strategy,” the report also explains.