Are Apple’s Mac Sales Back On Track?

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has caught up with demand for its new iMac line as the first month of sales data from research firm NPD shows a 31 percent year-over-year growth for the computer, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note to clients on Monday. He also reiterated an Overweight rating and a $767 price target on Apple shares.

“We note that [Apple] stated there was a 700,000 year-over-year iMac unit decline in the December quarter, which we believe was caused by supply issues around the redesigned iMacs,” Munster wrote. “We remain comfortable with our [negative] 5 percent year-over-year Mac expectation for March,” which translates to 3.8 million units.

Munster also said that in his opinion, iMac sales were possibly far less impacted by the growing might of the iPad, leading to the conclusion that the vast majority of the unit decline was related to supply constraints.

According to several reports, the new iMac, which went on sale in December, was hit with production issues related to a unique screen-lamination process. While the new method helped Apple to give the desktop a much thinner profile than its predecessor, it slowed down production early on…