A few months ago, analysts were predicting that terrible sales of the iPhone X would devastate the company. They were wrong. Today, an analyst says very strong sales of the iPhone X are going to damage Apple next year.
Apple just can’t win.
“The iPhone X has been very successful and well received by consumers. It has been so successful, that we think it has brought forward demand,” wrote Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research in a note to investors today.
In layman’s terms, the analysts is saying that so many people are buying the iPhone X now that demand for the 2018 iPhone models expected next month will be reduced.
An iPhone ‘air pocket’
“Demand brought forward this year will drive an ‘air pocket’, and the introduction of a lower-price premium OLED phone won’t be enough to make up for the shortfall,” Ferragu also wrote.
He’s referring to the unconfirmed reports that the 5.8-inch replacement for the iPhone X will debut at $899, a full $100 lower than the current model. This device is sometimes referred to as the iPhone XS because it’s expected to be nearly identical to its predecessor, just with a faster Apple A12 processor.
Analysts love to hate Apple
Analysts’ predictions of imminent disaster for Apple have plauged the company for decades. The most recent spate came with persistent reports early this year that the iPhone X was selling terribly.
It wasn’t until Apple announced its quarterly earnings that analysts had to accept that the iPhone X was the best-selling smartphone in the world.
Now that analysts can no longer say the device is a flop, at least one of them feels the need to say it’s too big a success.
It’s clear Wall Street isn’t listening. Apple’s share price is up 27 percent this year alone. And there was that $1 trillion milestone, of course.
