Apple is widely expected to break with tradition by introducing its much-rumored 4-inch iPhone 5se in March, but despite predictions that this could net Apple an extra 10 million+ unit sales per year, it may not be enough to reverse the larger trend of slowing iPhone sales.
Tim Cook has been clear that Apple is predicting iPhone sales to slow over the first fiscal quarter of 2016, and those predictions now seem to be backed up by numbers coming out of Apple’s supply chain — with a new report claiming that iPhone sales are likely to remain flat in the first half of 2016, based on decreased orders from Cupertino.
In particular, sources note that: “[while] Apple is expected to launch a 4-inch model, tentatively named iPhone 5se, in the first half of 2016, new contract orders for the new model would not be sufficient to make up the shortfalls caused by the decreased orders for iPhone 6s devices.”
The report comes courtesy of Digitimes, which is often not reliable for Apple rumors, although it tends to be much more so when it comes to supplier numbers, which this report cites.
Given that Apple is still selling giant quantities of iPhones — and a compelling argument can be put together that AAPL stock is grossly undervalued compared to that of other tech giants — this is far from an “Apple is doomed” alert. But it also means Apple is unlikely to solve whatever iPhone-related sales slowdown it is experiencing simply by adding one more handset to the lineup.
Will you be buying a 4-inch iPhone when its released? And what (if anything) can Apple do to alleviate the challenges of “peak iPhone” slowing sales? Leave your comments below.
Source: Digitimes
