Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The excitement about the launch of the latest iPhone series consisting of the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max failed to boost sales of the cellphone made by Apple.
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told analysts on a conference call that sales for the current quarter, including the Christmas holiday for new iPhone models, would be similar to previous years.
Wall Street analysts predict that iPhone sales will increase by 4.97% to US$122.98 billion. This means that instead of increasing, iPhone sales actually stagnated.
The projections did not meet expectations, even though Apple CEO Tim Cook insisted that the newly released iPhone 15 model was doing well in China.
He said this statement was an attempt to calm Wall Street’s concerns that Apple was losing market share due to the resurgence of Huawei and other local Chinese cellphone sellers.
Apple’s revenue from China fell 2.5 percent overall in the fiscal fourth quarter ended September 30.
Apple’s sales in China fell to US$15.08 billion from US$15.47 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Cook said that after accounting for foreign exchange rates, Apple’s China business grew year-over-year driven by iPhone sales and service revenue.
“In mainland China, we set a record quarter for iPhone in September,” said Cook, quoted from ReutersFriday (3/11/203).
“We have four of the five best-selling smartphones in urban China,” he added.
The Apple boss said the highest models of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max were facing supply constraints. However, he promised that currently they are working hard to produce more iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max devices. He believes that by the end of this quarter, the company will achieve supply-demand balance.
For now, the iPhone is still Apple’s best-selling product. Sales reached $43.81 billion in the fourth quarter, in line with analyst expectations, according to LSEG data.
Apple on Thursday reported sales and profit for its fiscal fourth quarter that beat Wall Street expectations. The revenue was helped by an increase in iPhone sales and services revenue of US$1 billion that offset large declines in Mac and iPad sales.
The Cupertino, California-based company has weathered the global smartphone market downturn better than its competitors. But it is facing an uneven economic recovery in China, Apple’s main market.
“While we believe investors should breathe a sigh of relief as sales and profits both exceeded expectations, the increase was small and we are concerned to see weak sales from China,” said DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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