“Target reported disappointing Q2 earnings on Wednesday, and management placed part of the blame squarely on Apple,” Rayhanul Ibrahim reports for Yahoo Finance.
“Comparable store sales at Target overall fell by 1.1%, but Target executives noted that electronic sales decreased by double digits and ‘accounted for 70 basis points [0.7%] of overall comp decline,'” Ibrahim reports. “Even more notably, Target specifically pointed out that Apple product sales were down by ‘more than 20%’ year-over-year and were to blame for a third of the overall plunge of electronic sales at Target.”
“Interestingly, Apple’s own Q2 earnings showed a more positive story, and possibly indicated they may not be as incentivized as Target to act in good faith — iPhone sales decline by 15%, iPad by 9%, and Macs by 11%. Bad for sure, but much better than what Target’s tracking shows.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple product users like to use Apple Pay. Target continues to refuse to accept Apple Pay in their stores – despite having fully-Apple Pay-capable NFC terminals at every register. Target is having problems selling Apple products. Go figure.
Staples (which is right next door to the Target nearest us) carries Apple products and Staples accepts Apple Pay. Betcha Staples’ Apple product sales haven’t cratered by “more than 20%.”
Target deserves the blame for Target’s sales decline.
It’s the economy! Plus, let’s face it — what has Apple upgraded recently? Fallow year. Next year? I imagine more fruitful.
It is the bathrooms!
yep! my wife stopped going to Target.
What about you? Do you share your wife’s hatred and meanness?
You mean her hatred for dudes in the women’s room?
Do you belief that men with penises can be women? If so, why do you hate science?
Over the past six quarters, Apple has single-handedly controlled the tech sector’s growth rate. Back in 2015, the tech sector would have been in the red every quarter without Apple. This influence is most pronounced back in Q1 of 2015, where earnings would have declined by 4%, but instead increased by 3%, thanks to Apple.
However, this trend is now hurting the tech sector. The aforementioned 3.9% expected decline turns into a 2.2% gain in the second quarter, once you strip out Apple earnings. Butters also notes that Apple’s volatility is due to Apple’s reliance on the iPhone for earnings ( http://goo.gl/f7RH4M ) , which has been seeing big declines this year.
The bathroom issue only affects people who have little intelligence or class. Transgendered individuals need not be looked down upon.
Anyone who looks down on another is not worthy of his perch.
Or her perch. 🗽
You are correct, this only affects people like you with little intelligence and class. No one is looking down at transgendered individuals. But I don’t want some guy in the women’s room when my daughter is in there going to the bathroom.
It’s raining excuses…
Apple sales declined because… Apple sales really did decline. Not just at Target.
honestly … I am not sure the lack of Apple Pay at registers is having that kind of impact on Apple product sales .. Maybe to the hardcore Apple folks .. Just my gut feeling 🙂
Do they hire these CEO’s out of a cereal box? Not accepting Apple Pay will soon be equivalent to not accepting cash. They obviously don’t care about their customers’ security.
A significant number of iPhone owners don’t even know how to set up touch ID. They don’t know what Apple Pay is. Apple doesn’t advertise it, Apple doesn’t incentivize it. Unless that changes its usage will be so rare as to be insignificant.
What a joke – if their Apple sales are down they need to look in the mirror – definitely the worst place to try & buy an Apple product – crappy displays, employees don’t have a clue about the products or what they actually do & don’t have on hand – they make Best Buy’s look like an Apple Store!:-)
Target sells Apple products?!!!
Now there’s a comment that has precisely defined the problem. I’m in Target several times a month and I had no idea they sold Apple products. I rarely even make it near the electronics section.
I agree about the lack of service and confidence regarding Apple products or any other electronic device they sell, at least in our area (8 stores with a 15 mile radius).
That being said, we bought our iPhone 6s’s from Target because they had a $250.00 gift card on each phone. At $500.0 it was a Target Christmas!
I am with you, I rather buy Apple products at Apple stores, Because Apple’s employees are trained, if I needed helps they know the products well enough to explain or repair for me. Target is not the right place to shop for an iPhone or iPad. Even though, I bought my last iPad at Target on Black Friday. but still I prefer Apple stores.
Target’s sales fell as accrual from idiotic decisions around gun free stores and insane restroom politics
correct.
You’re probably right, I do know the Target up the street from me back 2010 – 12 had knowledgeable people who knew the Apple products, how to use them and why they were better than their competitors, but in the last two years that’s all changed the Apple products have a very small space in the electronics area now and the Target electronics sales people are pushing Samsung and Android.
The decisions were not idiotic. Go trump for Trump, the biggest loser.
The notion that Apple product sales are suffering because people can’t walk around Target carrying AK-47s has got to be the dumbest analysis I’ve ever seen in the comments section of this site.
Come on now… Everyone wants to pay through the nose for obsolete crap from Apple.
Why, some processors are only two generations out-of-date.
Apple engineers are WAY too busy selecting the perfect color of the watch wristband to worry about obsolete products.
I hear the new Mac Pro will be Rose color. That’d make them sell like hotcakes.
Wanna bet they will have a Rose Gold Apple Car? Or maybe a Deep Blue? It appears they’ve moved all their innovation out of computers. There must be a service – oh yeah Apple Music – that is requiring all the talent. But if nothing else, they are an Energy company now so they will always have that to fall back on.
I stopped going to Target all together. Plus, they don’t take ApplePay.
Target is the reason my bank contacted me and made me swap my cards. They could not maintain the security of their checkout readers or whatever.
I still shop at Target once every few months, but always in cash.
Unlikely to buy anything-Apple at Target, since I don’t walk around with hundreds of dollars in the wallet.
I guess target forgot all about the boycott that is currently occurring against their company for their idiotic bathroom policy.
This has NOTHING to do with Apple Pay.
The boycott is having an impact.
if your going to buy an Apple product where do you go ? hello-Apple. Target has no experience selling their products and can’t even answer questions
MDN: So, since Target doesn’t take Apple Pay, you’re implying that people with Apple Watches opt not to shop there and that’s why Apple products aren’t selling well at Target?
That’s a stretch. You know, sometimes it’s okay to just report the news without adding stretched/weak commentary.
The lack of Apple Pay has zero to do with this.
This is a combination of a bad economy and Target is a piss ass store. Add to that the outspoken support for gender neutral bathrooms in states where huge majorities of people are against it… Who shops at Target any more? I go online and use my own bathroom in my own house and I don’t use a credit card tied to one stupid store. Note to self: Review Targets overall performance and not just the Apple line available there.
I am sure some of the comments above are valid reasons. I have also noticed a huge change in what Target carries and showcases at their stores. In the past it use to be Apple mobile devices and iPad line including a few Android devices. But now they are no longer showcasing the Apple products actively like they use to and they are carrying a huge amount of Android devices and alternative mobile and tablet solutions. If you do that, not only does it take away from the Apple sales but it also takes away from your normal electronic sales since that whole market has seen a huge hit in sales.
I signed a petition against Target and won’t be shopping there until they reverse their attack against NORMAL PEOPLE.
Zach, your comment is hateful. People who are transgendered can be quite normal. Your narrow view of what defines ‘normal’ contributes to feelings of inadequacy and other harmful feelings that really do impact people. I hope that you find a way to grow as a person.
I probably have twice as many Apple devices in my family than most people on here, and my decision to not shop at Target has nothing to do with Apple Pay. Heck, I’ve never even used Apple Pay.
The problem has more to do with shoehorning laptop GPUs into desktop computers and an aging computer line. Apple used to be cutting edge. It just isn’t there anymore. While I wouldn’t place the blame squarely on Apple, their current product portfolio isn’t helping.
Target used to be head and shoulders above Wally World and the rest and now it is just another “me too” big box discounter complete with poorly trained and unmotivated staff. There is really little to recommend it as it has the same stuff and higher prices.
Target…..where to start………….tranny bathroom BS is the least of it. Frankly, aside from Black Friday super rebates it makes no sense.
Resellers such as MDN recommended B&H sell all Apple products at great prices with NO sales tax and free shipping outside of NYC.
Of course we all know the “Amazoning” of retail has caused a major shift. Additionally, the untrained, unmotivated staff at many big-box stores doesn’t help. Of course by mail order purchasing you miss the fun of watching the “Walmartians and Zombies”…
WHY would I ever buy ANYTHING at Target?
After their entirely avoidable, customer identity theft catastrophe over the Christmas of 2014, to hell with Target.
Unless you are buying an IPod why would anyone go to Target to buy technology products? They do not have a trained sales staff. My Target is located next to a Best Buy which is where I go to buy tech products retail.
At least in the areas I frequent, Target stores are run-down and dirty and the Walmart stores are new and clean. A total reversal of the past.
And if Target thinks their bathroom policy isn’t hurting them, they’re delusional. Women don’t want dudes in there with them, and if it happens they want police to be called, not told they’re intolerant.
Target. Expect Less. Pay More.