iPhone 5 And iPad Market Demand Is Decreasing According To Analyst
We’ve bumped over some rumors recently, according to which, the demand of iPhones and iPads is decreasing. The analist Glen Yeung, is one of the people who think that these devices are currently loosing their position in the marketplace. A few days ago, the analyst pointed out through an investor’s note, that in the present moment, the orders from Apple suppliers for parts has gone low, this being one of the reasons why he made such a frivolous assessment.
In his note, the Citi Analyst Glen Yeung, said that by working in the field of supply chains that sell mostly hardware, it’s easy to find evidence concerning how to market goes. Thus, it was easy for him to notice that the command for iPhone5 parts and components, reduced considerably. He also stated that Apple’s last production didn’t sell entirely, and that they still have almost 10M iPhone units left in their inventory. This is definitely an indicator to Apple’s low demands on iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S.
Considering these observations, the analyst decreased his estimated sales units for iPhone, in the first quarter of the year, from 35 million to 34 million. Even Wall Street is keeping an eye on iPhone sales, hoping for sales that go around 37 million units. However, Glen Yeung is keeping his June quarter estimates to 25 million, even if this number is way lower than what Wall Street consented: 32 million in sales.
Another reason to this decrease, was pointed out by Yeung. He says that Apple might be clearing the inventory of iPhone 5, thus preparing themselves for the release of the iPhone 5S. But, he doesn’t expect for more than 3 or 4 million of iPhone 5S devices to leave the factory in the June quarter, thus keeping his first statement, according to which, the reduced orders came as a result of a lower demand for these products.
Speaking of new iPhones, we can tell you that Yeung doesn’t believe the rumors that went around the long waited low cost iPhone.
He says that even if there were a lot of rumors concerning this low cost iPhone, that rose movement among third party researchers and investors, there is little to no evidence, concerning Apple preparing such a product. He also says, that the only thing that has any material evidence is the launch of the new iPhone 5S, either in the first, or in the second quarter of 2013, and it seems that for the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014, they predict an iPhone with a larger screen to be released on the market. However, material evidence for a low cost iPhone, didn’t appear so far.
But the sales decrease of iPhone 5 was not the only worry of Apple company. According to Yeung’s reports, the demand in iPad parts and pieces has also decreased. He found evidence according to which, in the fourth quarter, the sales of this tablet, lowered drastically in key markets, like Japan and the U.S.
Yeung is placing this decrease on the raising demands of iPad mini, which took the larger iPad’s place in the market for now. He also predicts that the production of iPad Mini will go low as well, sometime in June, considering that Apple would want to prepare the market for the new iPad mini, which is expected to appear during September this year. Related to the latest rumors, about the Retina display, Yeung expects the both Retina Mini2, and the non-Retina Mini 2 versions, to be released at the end of this year.
In this moment, Yeung reduced his iPad sales estimates as well, for the June quarter, from 6.3 million to only 6, and for the iPad Mini, he decreased his estimates from 13.3 million to 13 million units. For this same quarter, he predicts that the iPad 5 will be launched on the market as well.
The analyst Glen Yeung, is one of the most harsh analysts of Apple from Wall Street. We can say that his forecast, is simply a reaction to an unfortunate decrease in commands, and that his statements aren’t entirely true.
Still, he might be right, considering that even Apple showed some concern in this matter, and went through reports from other analysts as well, in order to find out what could have happened.
In January this year, the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, took a stand and tried to keep the concerns in reasonable limits, by addressing to the costumers. However, he didn’t give any new information related to the cuts. So, we can say that even Apple has a few troubles in understanding the exact causes of the sales decrease.
