As always happens this time of year, Apple is gearing up to mass-produce its iPhones ahead of September’s launch.
However, a new report — citing “industry source” — says that momentum for touch panels and other components have been weak so far. If true, the report of “low order visibility” suggests that Apple’s not viewing 2019 as the year iPhone sales turn around.
To be clear, it’s worth taking reports from the supply chain with a pinch of silicon. Apple purposely diversifies its supply chain. That means that looking at the orders of just a couple of suppliers doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story.
But it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to hear that Apple’s playing it cautious with orders. Despite Apple’s best-ever Q3 earnings this week, the iPhone took a big dip. For the first time since 2012, the iPhone made up less than half of Apple’s revenue last quarter. Meanwhile, Apple has continued to struggle in China, where iPhone sales have further dipped.
Add to that the possibility of handset prices increasing and a design for this year’s iPhone that won’t change much beyond the camera, and there’s no logical reason why September’s iPhone refresh would massively change the direction the iPhone is currently headed in.
Analysts at Mizuho Securities recently predicted that this year’s iPhone models will largely “lack novelty.”
2020’s iPhone refresh will likely be bigger
A previous report suggested that Apple suppliers reportedly are gearing up to produce 75 million iPhone 11 devices this year. That would be roughly in line with the number Apple produced last year for the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. This seems to make sense, or potentially even be a little high.
2020’s iPhone refresh, on the other hand, is likely to be a bit bigger. It is almost certainly going to be the year in which Apple introduces its first 5G handsets. If Apple sticks to recent trends, next year will also be the year that Apple does a more significant design overhaul of the iPhone. That would make it the first major iPhone refresh following the Jony Ive era.
Are you excited about this year’s iPhone upgrade? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Digitimes (paywall)
