Back in January early this year, Apple had projected that total company earnings will possibly take a dip by the first quarter of 2016, which meant that April of this year, the tech giant will likely register a slump in sales for its iPhone devices, the first ever in the history of its highly popular smartphone lineup.
Various industry watchers believe that the shipment volume of iPhone devices dove almost 20 percent compared to the same quarter one year ago. On average, analysts are projecting Apple to be able to sell around 51 million units of its iPhones during the three month period that ended in March of this year, per Morgan Stanley. That figure represents a clear decrease from the 61.2 million units Apple registered in January to March of last year.
Is this slump for this quarter only, or will it last for the rest of 2016? This appears to be the bigger concern for Apple right now, which is particularly interesting because the company is just two years removed from posting its best ever sales performance for its iPhone lineup (thanks to the worldwide success of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus).
Oh, how fast times have changed. While still racking up impressive sales figures, the latest flagship devices from Apple (the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus) just did not deliver enough new features to get iOS mobile users to upgrade or first time users to purchase. It is because of this that most industry watchers are expecting a down year for Apple.
And since iPhone sales make up about one third of Apple’s total revenues, this could be worrying, indeed. During the second quarter of this year, it is quite possible that the iPhone maker’s revenues could decrease even further. Sure, the company has just released its new iPhone SE, a cheaper iPhone offering, but this device ain’t no iPhone 6. As for the upcoming iPhone 7, we still have to wait until September to see if it delivers on the goods.
If it is any consolation to Apple, they are not the only tech powerhouse beset with challenges. Intel, the number one supplier of processors for computers and services, is cutting 11 percent of its workforce because of free falling PC sales. IBC, too, has registered slow sales in the last quarter, its lowest in a decade and a half. Even somebody as mighty as Google (or more accurately, its parent company Alphabet) is posting sales and profit figures that failed to meet expectations.
