Apple Predicted To Stop Making 17-Inch MacBook Pro

Ming-Chi Kuo, research analyst from KGI Securities, has issued a new report saying that Apple may discontinue the 17-inch MacBook Pro due to weak sales.

Also he expects that Apple will introduce new MacBook models that will combine power of the MacBook Pro and portability of MacBook Air models and dropping of 17-inch model will be part of this revamp.

“Apple’s Mac business in 2Q12 will be boosted by several factors. Three of which are: (1) Mountain Lion, which integrates iOS features with Mac OS, Apple TV’s interaction function, will be launched in June; (2) upgrading to Ivy Bridge; and (3) back-to-school demand. We forecast Apple will sell 5.32mn units of the Mac series (up 28.5% QoQ and 35.2% YoY) in 2Q12, making it the main growth driver.

While adding new products, Apple is likely to stop making the 17” MacBook Pro this year due to falling shipments, in order to maintain a lean product line strategy”.

According to Kuo’s estimates, in the first quarter of this year Apple sold 3.1 million notebooks and half of them were the 13-inch MacBook Pro. While Kuo predicts sales of 1.5 million 13-inch MacBook Pros in this quarter, he expects much lower sales of 500,000 15-inch models and 50,000 17-inch MacBook Pros. According to his estimates of MacBook Air sales, in the first quarter Apple sold 1.1 million, split equally between 13-inch and 11-inch models.