iMac faces tough crowd

Apple unveiled its latest iMac and overall it's pretty snazzy. But Wall Street analysts aren't too enthused.

Given the typical enthusiasm over the iPhone and Apple in general it's a bit stunning to see analysts escape the Steve Jobs aura. Granted the iMac isn't new, but it's definitely more exciting than the Mini. Maybe these analysts left their pompoms at home because they weren't invited.

A sampling of a few comments:

Merrill Lynch analyst Richard Farmer:

Apple unveiled updated iMac all-in-one desktops along with enhancements to its iLife and iWork software apps. Since Apple did not invite financial analysts, our expectations were lower than at other events with higher profile. We believe the product changes are evolutionary, not revolutionary, but should be enough to support desktop Mac estimates in the back to school and holiday Qs.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster:

We believe Apple's new products are innovative and will help the company maintain its trend of market share growth, but none of the products are game-changers. With the tweaks to iMac's form factor, performance upgrade and the price decrease, we believe these new iMacs will have a higher perceived value, which will drive sales. Last night we put the new iMac (20", 2.4GHz) and the iLife '08 software to the test. Generally we were impressed with the products, but several minor flaws stood out in our tests. The keyboard that comes included with the new iMacs is very thin, and in our opinion, Apple has slightly over prioritized design and under prioritized functionality.

J.P. Morgan analyst Bill Shope:

Apple introduced new consumer products this afternoon. The iMac introductions and other product announcements were widely anticipated and largely in line with expectations heading into the event.

The bright side: It sounds like the iMac could surprise on the upside--especially if it gets a little love from businesses and boosts market share.