Apple CEO Tim Cook holds a brand new iPhone 15 Pro in the course of the Wonderlust mission launch occasion on the firm’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, Sept. 12, 2023.
Loren Elliott | Reuters
Shipments of iPhones are more likely to take a success this yr due largely to the rising recognition of foldable telephones and Huawei’s resurgence in the Chinese market, says high Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities.
Apple, which became the top smartphone vendor in China final yr for the primary time, trimmed shipments of “key upstream semiconductor parts” to round 200 million items, translating to a 15% year-over-year drop in iPhone shipments, in accordance with Kuo’s blog post on Tuesday about his newest provide chain survey.
Kuo wrote that Apple’s weekly shipments in China have dropped by 30% to 40% from a yr earlier in current weeks, “and this downward development is anticipated to proceed.”
“Apple may have essentially the most important decline among the many main world cell phone manufacturers in 2024,” Kuo wrote.
Huawei’s comeback as a number one smartphone maker coupled with the “growing choice for foldable telephones amongst high-end customers as their first selection” in the Chinese market are key causes for the iPhone’s potential decline, Kuo wrote. New telephone designs integrating generative synthetic intelligence are additionally altering the market.
Apple did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
Samsung has upped shipments of its new Galaxy S24 series this yr by 5% to 10% because it sees “higher-than-expected” demand because of its AI-powered options, Kuo wrote. Apple, in the meantime, has lowered its cargo forecast for the iPhone 15 in the primary half of 2024, he added.
With no main modifications to the iPhone’s designs anticipated till 2025 “on the earliest,” Kuo wrote, Apple’s “cargo momentum and ecosystem progress” are poised to decrease in the meantime.
Apple is scheduled to report quarterly outcomes on Thursday. Analysts predict to see income progress of simply 0.6% from a yr earlier to $117.91 billion, in accordance with LSEG, previously Refinitiv. And common projections present Apple recording single-digit progress for the remainder of the calendar yr.
Apple shares fell 1.7% on Tuesday to $188.45.
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