In an link headlined “APPLE FUTURE QUESTIONED” above the masthead, no less, Drudge Report links to a report by Anya George Tharakan and Julia Love for Reuters.
“Apple Inc. shares slumped nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading as its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of estimates and it missed some targets for iPhone sales,” Tharakan and Love report. “Apple said on Tuesday it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago. But some analysts had expected around 49 million.”
“Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, said the results highlighted the vulnerability of Apple’s dependence on the iPhone and the Chinese market’s growing importance to the company,” Tharakan and Love report. “‘Where are you going to find growth in the world?’ he said. ‘You’ve done an amazing job sucking all the smartphone profits into your balance sheet, but smartphone sales are slowing. What’s going to happen when the industry matures, just like PCs did?'”
MacDailyNews Take: Where are you going to find growth in the world?
Apple’s iPhone 6/Plus penetration among iPhone owners is a mere 27%. That means there are 73% primed for upgrading to the iPhone 6s/Plus. And, that’s not counting those fleeing from fragmandroid to quality in ever-increasing numbers.
Even a snot-nosed intern at BGC Partners knows that PC sales have a far longer replacement cycle than smartphones, which turn over every two years (and even that’s declining rapidly with new carrier plans that do not lock subscribers into hardware for two years). And iPhone has 99% user satisfaction. Every year or two, there are hundreds of millions of iPhone users waiting to upgrade. Wholly unlike PCs. Big time “analyst” Colin Gillis either knows this very basic fact, and is trying to obfuscate, or he’s a vapid-eyed mouth-breather who somehow got a job as an “Apple analyst” (wouldn’t be the first time). Take your pick.
Apple Watch’s best month last quarter was the last month of the quarter, in June, as supplies finally hit stores and could begin to satisfy demand. Demand that is sure to grow as we approach the holiday shopping season.
“iPad Pro” (likely) and, indeed, true iPad multitasking for iPad Air 2 and newer (also to debut this fall), await in the wings, with iOS 9 set to arrive in a few months. Older iPads need not apply. Cue the first real round of iPad upgrades!
According to IDC, Apple’s Macintosh has 13.5% market share in the U.S. and 7.5% worldwide. Apple’s Mac has outgrown the PC market for the last several years. The Mac has headroom of a mere 86.5% in the U.S. and 92.5% worldwide.
We won’t even get into Apple TV, Apple Pay, or Apple Music, much less Apple Car.
There’s your growth, Monsieur Dumbass.
“The company forecast revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, missing analysts’ average estimate of $51.13 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S,” Tharakan and Love report. “The company said net income rose to $10.68 billion, or $1.85 per share, from $7.75 billion, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.81 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 32.5 percent to $49.61 billion from a year earlier, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $49.43 billion.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, to recap: Some analysts expected growth of more than a mere 35% (in the June quarter, no less) and wanted guidance of more than $51.13 billion – $51.13 BILLION! – in the 90-some-odd-day quarter over the dead of summer (sorry Aussies!) in which Apple’s all-time record for the September quarter, so far, stands at $42.1 billion, but Apple only gave guidance with a top end of $51 billion, not $51.13 billion. OMG, what a disappointment! Quelle tragédie! Mon Dieu! Run for the hills! (dripping sarcasm)
Our point already having been made quite sufficiently, and with some French having already been deployed, we’ll refrain from breaking Godwin’s Law here, but, in times like these, The Big Lie fairly leaps to mind.
SEE ALSO:
Apple poised for $50 billion valuation loss after posting ‘disappointing’ record earnings – July 21, 2015
Apple shares plunge after ‘disappointing’ record third quarter results – July 21, 2015
MacDailyNews presents live notes from Apple’s Q315 Conference Call – July 21, 2015
Apple pulverizes the Street with record third quarter results – July 21, 2015