Apple Computer Inc, whose shares were banged on Monday as one analyst switched his recommendation to hold from buy and cut his 1990 forecast to $4.10 a share from $4.50, said yesterday that while it expects net sales for its first quarter to December 29 to exceed last year’s $1,405m, the increase will be less than it expected, because as in the UK, US consumers just aren’t buying high-ticket items this Christmas, and as a result, earnings per share will likely be down on the $1.10 of a year ago: Apple says Mac sales are strong overall, with the IICI, IICX and SE30 leading the way, the low-end SE and Plus are below expectations; in addition, there have been problems ramping up the production of the Macintosh Portable to meet demand, due to shortage of screens; ly of the products screen display.
