By Amy Gilroy
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone sales have been weakening according to a number of Wall Street analysts, reports Bloomberg.
And the iPhone 5 may not sell as well as the iPhone 4S, said UBS analyst Steve Milunovich, according to BGR.com.
He wrote, “Some of our Chinese sources do not expect the iPhone 5 to do as well as the iPhone 4S.”
By the end of this year, iPhone users may total 230 million. The iPhone is now approaching the saturation point, said an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. He trimmed his prediction for new iPhone customers in 2013 to 62.4 million, from 84.3 million.
At least five analysts also claim that Apple’s suppliers are purchasing less equipment, indicating that they will produce fewer iPhones and iPads than expected. All five analysts are lowering their price targets for Apple stock as a result, said Bloomberg. It quoted portfolio manager Michael Obuchowski of North Shore Asset Management as saying, “Apple is feeling the heat. There is a lot of pressure on Apple to bring new magical devices to the market, and that hasn’t happened in a while.”
The iPhone 5 sold 5 million units in its opening weekend, short of the 6 to 10 million units that analysts had predicted, however, Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted this was due to a shortage of product.
Even in China, where Apple just announced it sold 2 million iPhone 5 phones in its first weekend on sale in the country, Apple faces numerous challenges. It’s unlikely Apple will team up with the country’s largest wireless carrier, said Bloomberg, and there is increasing competition from other smartphone rivals such as Samsung.
The true state of iPhone sales will be revealed in January when Apple reports its financial Q1 results. It will mark the first time iPhone 5 sales were available for a full quarter (October through December).
Amy Gilroy is the Editor of CEoutlook and a Contributing Author to Satellite Radio Playground and Market Playground. Amy has been a fan of car audio longer than she cares to admit. At age 17, she was told an amplifier could make the car radio sound better, and from then on, she was hooked. Prior to launching CEoutlook, she was a Senior Editor at TWICE magazine.
Contact Amy Giroy: agilroy@ceoutlook.com
