“The market’s anticipation of big sales from Apple’s new iPhones drove its shares higher this year, but now one Wall Street firm says demand for its smartphones will be slightly worse than it expected,” Tae Kim reports for CNBC. “UBS said its recent survey of consumers pointed to weaker demand for the iPhone, but any financial downside will partly be offset by higher pricing.”
We present results from our semi-annual UBS Evidence Lab Smartphone survey of 6,700 smartphone buyers across five countries. Buying intentions are flattish from a year ago. We interpret the results as a signal that Apple has maintained its position around the world but unit growth could be more muted than originally expected… We think growth will likely slow in the US and Europe given more muted purchase intent. — UBS analyst Steven Milunovich in a note to clients Sunday entitled “UBS Evidence Lab Survey: Supercycle? Not So Much, but Narrative Shifts to Monetizing the Base”
“As a result, Milunovich lowered his 2018 iPhone unit sales growth forecast to 10 percent from 12 percent,” Kim reports. “The analyst reaffirmed his buy rating and his $190 price target for Apple shares, representing 9 percent upside to Friday’s close.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: 10% unit sales growth at this stage of the game (smartphone saturation) is a supercycle.