Experts predict Apple to report its first quarterly revenue downturn in nearly four years after strict COVID-19 lockdowns and related protests in China impeded iPhone production at its largest assembler Foxconn during the quarter.
“With supply chain challenges largely normalized, we now believe Apple is entering a period of slower demand due to macro factors,” said Cowen analyst Krish Sankar, adding that he expects 2 per cent fewer iPhone units to be sold in 2023.
According to Refinitiv, Apple is supposed to announce on Thursday that iPhone sales fell about 5 per cent in the crucial holiday quarter. The last time iPhone sales fell was in August-October of 2020, months before the COVID-19 pandemic. While according to BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan, some demand for the iPhone will likely be pushed into the current quarter due to supply constraints in the first quarter and some demand lost due to a lack of product availability during the holiday season.
The disruption at the world’s largest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou, China, prompted Apple to issue a rare warning in November and limited stocks of its higher-end iPhone 14 models during what is typically its best-selling quarter, driven by product launches and the holidays.
All of these are the factors that drove Apple to the verge of reporting its first quarterly revenue downturn in nearly four years.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.