Note that Apple is estimating a decline in global sales of iPhone handsets in Q1 2016 for the first time in the device’s history.
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Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters that revenue in Greater China rose 14 percent in the last quarter, Apple is beginning to see a shift in the economy, particularly in Hong Kong, which indicates that China will go pear shaped.
The March quarter is likely to be the weakest this year in terms of iPhone sales for the company, which forecast on Tuesday its first quarterly revenue drop in 13 years.
Announcing the quarterly results, Tim Cook, revealed that Apple has managed to deliver a biggest ever quarter with innovative products and registered all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
Pushing software and services is expected to be a new direction for Apple to boost its profitability. The latter was expected given Apple’s schedule of design upgrades every next year so the iPhone 7 should expect to see its fair share of changes. That’s the largest market share in Asia, and if the sales continue to drop, then Apple will have to reinforce its marketing campaigns elsewhere-resulting in more expenditure for less actual returns.
Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, said: “Most companies would do cartwheels with those kind of numbers but i t’s Apple, so anything that’s not astronomical growth is looked at with some fear and trepidation”. And we think its stock price has almost unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors!
Rumors about a smaller, four-inch “iPhone 5SE” have been swirling around for months.
The more pressing question is if Apple is adding wireless charging similar to the Apple Watch to the iPhone 7 to be unveiled this Fall. It expects to sell 50-52 million units in the March quarter.
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In addition to the dual-camera configuration, the iPhone 7 is also set to have wireless earpods, according to N4BB. With the launch of the iPhone 7 about three quarters away, Cook and company cautioned that one quarter isn’t the best indicator of Apple’s overall health. This is being attributed to the slowdown in the sale of $650 smartphones, a market in which the iPhone maker has largely invested.
