How many iPods did Apple sell?

    The third in a series of previews of Apple's results for the first fiscal quarter of 2010

    by Philip Elmer-DeWitt

    Earlier this week we sampled the Street's expectations for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Mac sales in the fiscal quarter that ended on Dec. 26.

    Today we look at the analysts' Q1 2010 estimates for a product line in transition: from simple MP3 players like the classic iPod to pocket-sized computers like the iPod touch.

    Apple doesn't break down iPod sales by model in its quarterly reports, so we've relied on Piper Jaffray's iPod touch estimates to draw the chart above.

    Once again, there is a wide range in unit sales estimates, from a high of 23 million from Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitman to a low of 17.75 million from Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty. (See below the fold.)

Analyst, Affiliation               iPods (millions)  Date of estimate

Chris Whitmore, Deutsche Bank           23.00                11/29/09

Shaw Wu, Kauffman Brothers              22.00                12/30/09

Mark Moskowitz, J.P. Morgan             21.97                1/4/10

Ben Reitzes, Barclay's Capital          21.60                1/7/10

Nehal Chokshi, Technology Insights      20.91                1/4/10

Deagol, Apple Finance Board             20.50                1/3/10

Jeff Fidacaro, Susquehanna Financial    20.50                1/6/10

Doug Reid, Thomas Weisel                20.45                12/28/09

Peter Misek, Canaccord Adams            20.40                1/3/10

Yair Reiner, Oppenheimer Equity Res.    20.35                12/8/09

Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray             20.10                1/6/10

Brian Marshall, Broadpoint AmTech       19.83                1/3/10

Turley Muller, Financial Alchemist      19.00                1/4/10

Kathryn Huberty, Morgan Stanley         17.75                1/3/10

. . . .

    Note: According to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, the iPod touch's share may have widened last quarter. He's estimating unit sales of 9.4 million iPod touches — nearly 47% of total iPod sales. In his model, iPod touch sales exceeded iPhone sales (9.3 million) for the first time in Q1 2010.