Apple suppliers reportedly are gearing up to produce 75 million iPhone 11 devices this year.
That number falls roughly in line with the number Apple produced last year for the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. It suggests that, while iPhone sales certainly aren’t growing like they did half a decade ago, Apple doesn’t think they’re shrinking either.
That’s good news for investors. The last year has been a shaky time for the iPhone. During that time frame, Apple CEO Tim Cook revised earnings based on fewer iPhone sales than expected. Much of this concern centered on China: Apple also faces possible fallout from a trade war with the United States.
If 2019 iPhone sales come in roughly in line with last year’s numbers, that gives Apple a strong base to work from. At the same time, Cupertino continues to expand other aspects of its business, with its services division at the forefront of efforts.
Late last year, Apple stopped reporting iPhone sales numbers. Instead, it now reports the average sales price per unit. This at least partially explains why Apple steadily cranks up the prices it charges for iPhones.
iPhone refresh for 2019
As with last year, Apple reportedly will launch three new handsets in 2019. The lineup likely will include two new OLED handsets and an LCD version. Rumors suggest they will come with the same screen sizes as the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. The main outward difference is that they will boast new camera setups. iPhone watchers also expect that Force Touch will disappear from the XS and XS Max successors.
With that in mind, some people already describe this year’s iPhone refresh as boring. Analysts at Mizuho Securities recently predicted that this year’s iPhone models will largely “lack novelty.” For the next really big iPhone update, it seems we’ll have to wait until 2020 when Apple introduces 5G iPhones.
Source: Bloomberg
