“iPhone sales are expected to peak with the release of Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone next year, according to models from Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz, who predicts 245 million iPhones will sell in Apple’s 2018 fiscal year” Jennifer Booton reports for MarketWatch. “That would reflect an increase of 9% from the fiscal 2017 FactSet consensus estimate of 225 million, and an increase of more than 15% from the fiscal year that ended in October.”
“However, Uerkwitz believes next year’s iPhone cycle will present ‘one last growth hurrah’ before consumers begin to drift away from the high prices Apple commands for it smartphones. Apple may struggle to raise iPhone prices meaningfully beyond the next cycle as it deals with fewer hardware breakthroughs and a narrowing performance gap between the iPhone and its closest premium-tier competitors, Uerkwitz wrote,” Booton reports. “‘The risks to the company have never been greater,’ said Uerkwitz, who has a perform rating on the stock. ‘We believe Apple is about to embark on a decade-long malaise.'”
“Other uncertainties loom, such as the new White House administration. While president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed repatriation tax ‘holiday’ would make it easier for Apple to return cash to the U.S. and put that money to work, other Trump policies that might make Apple build more iPhone components in the U.S. could offset tax-related financial benefits,” Booton reports “Last week, Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review reported that Apple reached out to supplier Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. about studying the possibility of moving some production to the U.S., which Cakmak said might have negative implications.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Just getting this one in the data base for copious future use. 😉
Despite our occasional kvetching over Tim Cook’s Apple, one overarching fact remains: Slow and steady wins the race.
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Apple reaps 106% of smartphone industry profits – November 21, 2016
President-elect Trump tells Apple CEO Tim Cook that he’d like to see Apple make products in the U.S. – November 23, 2016