iPhone shipments were less than expected in first fiscal as well
Stock researcher OTR Global says that Apple has missed its first fiscal shipment estimates, and managed to ship between 37 million units and 42 million units. Apple's first fiscal is counted as the period between October to December last year, and the firm had previously predicted that Apple would ship about 40 to 45 million units in that quarter. The research firm also predicts that Apple's second fiscal iPhone shipments will also see a year-on-year decline by 21 percent to 24 percent. The decline are said to be due to weak demand of the new iPhone XS and iPhone XR models.
Seeking Alpha got hold of OTR Global's notes, and reports that Apple's low shipment figures are attributed to the weak demand of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR. The firm expects Apple to ship 28 million to 33 million units in second fiscal quarter. The second fiscal quarter runs through January till March, and Apple will release the numbers in its report earnings on April 30. The numbers suggest a year-on-year downfall of 21 percent to 24 percent in the second quarter.
In its first quarter results, Apple reported a iPhone revenue decline of 15 percent from the prior year. It blamed steeper-than-expected "economic deceleration" in China and emerging markets. Retailers in several regions have been offering discounts in the meanwhile in an effort to boost sales. To boost iPhone XR sales in India, the company announced a temporary price cut for all its variants. The iPhone XR 64GB variant was made available for Rs. 59,900, and the iPhone XR's 128GB and 256GB variants was made available for Rs. 64,900 and Rs. 74,900 respectively. This offer is applicable if you make the purchase through Apple authorised retailers only. HDFC customers can avail an additional 10 percent instant discount as well.
Apple has recently started putting more efforts into its services segment that comprises Apple Music, App Store, Apple TV+, Apple News+, AppleCare, and more. In its first quarter report, it claimed that its services revenue reached an all-time high of $10.9 billion (roughly Rs. 757,718,950,000), up 19 percent over the prior year.
The iPhone-maker even announced its first-ever game subscription service called Apple Arcade in March that would feature over 100 new and exclusive games, including original releases from renowned creators like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong and Will Wright. It is reportedly spending over $500 million to build its own stable of games for the 'Arcade' gaming service.
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