Call it the cyclical nature of being an Apple supplier if you want, but two iPhone manufacturers have reported their lowest consolidated revenues since March 2014, with “slow sales of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus” cited as one of the reasons.
The two suppliers are smartphone lens module maker Largan Precision and Catcher Technologies, which supplies the metal casings for the iPhone 6s. Largan’s revenues dropped 36.85 percent on-month in February and 22.11 percent on year. Catcher’s revenues, by comparison, dropped 33.12 percent on month and 7.50 percent on year.
It should be noted that slowing iPhone sales don’t necessarily account for the whole decline. There are other potential reasons, too, such as fewer working days last month due to the 2016 Lunar New Year holiday. Judging iPhone supply and demand by the rise and fall of supplier orders and revenue can also be less than accurate.
With that said, Tim Cook has been open about the likelihood that iPhone sales may stop growing for the first time ever this quarter — and, while acknowledging this could be Apple’s effort to set Wall Street’s expectations low, ready to exceed them — today’s dual reports appear to back up Cook’s assertions.
