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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenya AA who wrote (44533)	1/21/1999 2:21:00 PM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

iMac Tops U.S. Retail/Mail Order Holiday PC Sales NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news)'s popular iMac personal computer was the number one selling PC through retail and mail order channels during the 1998 U.S. holiday season, according to research company PC Data. In overall PC sales, the iMac fell from the top spot in November to number three in December. It is still the number one selling PC since its mid-August introduction and led overall sales in the fourth quarter, the Reston, Va.-based PC Data reported. The report comes after Apple stock surged to a 52-week high last week when the company added five new fruit colors to the aquiline iMac range. The stock then dropped on analyst concerns about pricing of the hot-selling machine. The iMac accounted for 6.2 percent of all fourth quarter unit sales and 7.2 percent of the dollar volume, the PC Data report said. PC Data counted the holiday season as October through December 1998. Shares of Apple were trading at $38.625 in early afternoon trade, down $1.9375.The stock was down 18 percent from its year high of $47.31. The average price for the iMac was around $1,224 during the fourth quarter, according to the report by PC Data. Apple priced the new iMac color range at $1,199. It cut the price of the original iMac to $1,049, down from its August launch price of $1,299. Other best-sellers in the fourth quarter were three Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) Presario PCs. Rounding out the top five was the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) 6355 computer. Leading sales in the crucial December sales month was the Compaq Presario 5170, followed by the Presario 5150. After the iMac, the eTower, from EMachines, a privately held supplier of low-cost computers, captured fourth place. Apple stock fell over five points to close at $41.375 last Thursday after Salomon Smith Barney analyst Richard Gardner cut his rating on Apple's stock from a buy to a neutral. Gardner said he was disappointed Apple did not lower prices during the December quarter. The popularity of iMac continues to increase the Cupertino, Calif. company's market share in the PC retail and mail order channel, lifting it to 9.6 percent in the fourth quarter from 6.7 percent in the second quarter, PC Data said.