Due to a pretty average Christmas period, Apple‘s revenue forecast has been lower than expected for the first quarter of 2018.
Don’t worry, they’re still racking in a bullshit amount of cash, with the company expected to bring in between $US60 billion ($75.4 billion AUD) and $US62 billion. According to Bloomberg, analysts were expecting around $US65.9 billion.
The reason? Well, it looks like the company has had some trouble selling iPhones lately. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the expensive iPhone X that was the issue – it allegedly sold relatively well – but the cheaper models that failed to hold the interest of punters.
In the final quarter of 2017, Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones, which is down by 1 per cent on the previous year, and lower than the 80.2 million that analysts had projected.
It was recently reported that the company was cutting supplier orders due to lack of demand, which certainly isn’t ideal for them moving forward. Given the modest success of the iPhone X, a cheaper version of it might just work in their favour.
A noted analyst who successfully predicted many of the iPhone X’s features reckons Apple’s next move will be another cheaper, entry level phone, and two premium models – the XS and XS Plus – but it’s not clear what form the budget model will take.
The company’s chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, blames the earnings slump on the Christmas period itself, which was a week shorter than it was in 2016. “We are very, very happy with the guidance we are providing,” he said, noting strong sales in all regions.
“iPhone X was the most popular phone and since we launched it in early November, for every week it’s been the top selling iPhone,” CEO Tim Cook said in an interview. “Couldn’t be prouder of it.”
It’ll be interesting to see where Apple go next. Given the X was such a monumental redesign that ditched the home button and introduced FaceID, what else can the manage to cram into one handset?
