Heard On The Beat
Hot Macs: Apple Computer’s iMacs appear to be selling like hot cakes since their debut last week.
Creative Computers in Santa Monica started selling the iMacs Saturday at 12:01 a.m. In two hours, the store had sold between 60 and 70 of the 200 computers in stock, said assistant manager Ziad Itani. Although things have slowed down a bit, the store is still a lot busier than regular days, he said.
“I’ve never seen any product--Mac or PC--sell like this,” he said. “Software maybe, but not hardware.”
For CompUSA, the only nationwide retailer of Apple computers, the iMac is the most successful product in the history of the Dallas-based electronics superstore, company spokeswoman Carol Elfstrom said. A few stores sold out, she said, with some of the strongest sales occurring in the Bay Area.
One customer at Personal Support Computers in West Los Angeles called a friend from the shop to encourage the friend to buy one, said Gary Garrison, operations manager at the boutique store, which caters to the entertainment industry.
Shortly after the new Mac’s debut, Apple’s stock hit a 52-week high of $43.75. On Friday, it closed at $43, up $2.38 on Nasdaq.
It’s too soon to tell whether iMac sales have had any lasting effects on the stock price, said Matt Sargent, an industry analyst with ZD Market Intelligence. Sargent believes the rise may be attributable to the recent deluge of information about the iMac.
“Apple has been making a big PR effort” to promote and generate excitement about the iMac, he said.
