Apple iPhone 6 sales disappoint, shares plummet 7%

[Ns1]

$49 to $51 billion revenue vs analysts' expectations of $51.13 billion. Revenue is the most important indicator of a company's growth

a 1-2% variance for 1 quarter against "analyst expectations" and people are already crying doom. srs?

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.

 

[stlc8tr]

what I like is how people defend apple so much for selling an overpriced phone. Now from a business point of view they are laughing all the way to the bank but from a consumer point of view thats not something I would be proud of. They sell less phones and yet make the most profit. I will spend my money elsewhere.

Well, bully for you. One man's trash and all that.

It might be overpriced to you but not to the 47M who purchased one this past quarter.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

what I like is how people defend apple so much for selling an overpriced phone. Now from a business point of view they are laughing all the way to the bank but from a consumer point of view thats not something I would be proud of. They sell less phones and yet make the most profit. I will spend my money elsewhere.

Isn't that the goal of any business...?

 

[ThisIsChrisKim]

a 1-2% variance for 1 quarter against "analyst expectations" and people are already crying doom. srs?

The market moves based on projections and forecasts. So missing a forecast and then the stock price dropping a bit is market correction.

 

[soccerballtux]

So analysts get the numbers wrong and Apple shares drop even though they had record sales numbers and revenue? Yeah, that makes sense.

-KeithP

Analysts don't really add anything to the market, they just suck value out of it and whine. When the market does well, they deserve every bit of profit 'because', and when it does badly, heads need to roll because they deserve better.

They need to get out there and innovate and actually produce something. See how they like someone else controlling their creativity and ingenuity...

 

[Fingolfin269]

I'm not actively following the cell phone market but to be honest that's because it has just become boring to me. I don't expect some amazing new tech year over year anymore. Is this more of a me thing or is it becoming more of a general sentiment?

To be honest I see so much less activity on this part of the forum than I used to so assume it's more of a general market deal right now.

 

[Ns1]

I'm not actively following the cell phone market but to be honest that's because it has just become boring to me. I don't expect some amazing new tech year over year anymore. Is this more of a me thing or is it becoming more of a general sentiment?

To be honest I see so much less activity on this part of the forum than I used to so assume it's more of a general market deal right now.

I just expect a better camera and more size for the dollar.


At least apple gives me 1/2

 

[poofyhairguy]

I'm not actively following the cell phone market but to be honest that's because it has just become boring to me. I don't expect some amazing new tech year over year anymore. Is this more of a me thing or is it becoming more of a general sentiment?

To be honest I see so much less activity on this part of the forum than I used to so assume it's more of a general market deal right now.

After the G2 the form factor plateaued. All the excitement now is in new form factors like wearables.

 

[tential]

Because analysts/investors are frequently short-sited morons who don't care about the big picture -- just the quarterly results.

No this is retail investors you're describing.

 

[RecoveryForce]

It was bad press like this that killed BlackBerry's reputation.

 

[Achtung!]

Late 2014/Early 2015 were Apple's best 3 quarters.

However, that's mainly because the iPhone 6 was a form factor upgrade to the iPhone 5s.

The iPhone 6s needs to sell more than the iPhone 6 for Apple's profitability to even match anywhere near levels seen in Q4 2014 to Q2 2015.

Furthermore, revenue increases are a superior indicator for measuring a company's growth. You could have a high profit margin, but Apple's product range is very narrow, meaning that once the IT bubble bursts, Apple will become like Nokia.

Samsung, on the other hand, is teaming up with Tesla and other electric car companies and spending a huge bulk of its R&D budget on electric battery modules.

Samsung no longer thinks that smartphones are the growth engine. This through process was triggered by falling sales of its flagship smartphone models.

HOWEVER, they still make the most technologically advanced smartphones.

 

[Artdeco]

It was bad press like this that killed BlackBerry's reputation.

LOL no, BlackBerry committed suicide.

 

[elitejp]

Well, bully for you. One man's trash and all that.

It might be overpriced to you but not to the 47M who purchased one this past quarter.

no need to get mad about it, I have no qualms about people spending as they wish. what i was referring to has more to do with most other posts that argue how great apple is as a company by citing how much profit they make. Thinking about this I begin to wonder why Microsoft is hated by so many people referencing that the Micro$oft monopoly makes too much profit.

 

[elitejp]

Isn't that the goal of any business...?

I dont believe I said otherwise. Rather I commented both on the goals of a business and the goals of a consumer.

 

[Artdeco]

no need to get mad about it, I have no qualms about people spending as they wish. what i was referring to has more to do with most other posts that argue how great apple is as a company by citing how much profit they make. Thinking about this I begin to wonder why Microsoft is hated by so many people referencing that the Micro$oft monopoly makes too much profit.

Don't think he was mad, just pointing out that lots of people, most of them being Apple's highly satisfied customers disagree with you. Apple is and will move even more upmarket, I suspect they'll continue to be quite successful at it too.

Robert Scoble has pointed out that when he travels, he sees primarily iPhones, and Apple products used by fellow travelers, and when he's in first class, it's nearly 100% Apple products. When he speaks, it's nearly 100% Apple owners in the audience. Companies would kill to have that kind of demographics among their customers.

Apple's master plan: build devices that work well, provide industry leading customer support, make their ecosystem sticky. It's capitalism, and damn good business.

I've bricked half a dozen devices over the years, I can't manage to brick an Apple device. Just restored a 2011 MBA, before I sold it, did you know if you press command r on an Apple PC, it hooks up to WiFi, connects to Apple's servers and will install the OS? That's so handy and simple, I was impressed as hell.

With 80% of smartphones being Android, there's no sense in calling Apple a monopoly either, they just sucked all the profit out of the sector by building and supporting a better mousetrap.

 

[mikeymikec]

Apple's sales are very big, 1.5 million iPhones is not such a big difference, the title "Apple iPhone 6 sales disappoint" seems a little far-fetched.

While I'm agreeing that uses of the word "plummet" are OTT in this case, I wonder how big of a difference it makes to a business if they sell 1.5m less units of an expensive item that they expected to sell. That's a lost of costs incurred and a lot less profit than expected, and it might cause problematic ripples in production cycles of iPhones over the next few months or so, possibly affecting estimates for ip7 sales.

 

[Mopetar]

I assume you mean 6S instead of 7, but either way I don't think it affects sales there at all as Apple will not be able to make enough to satisfy initial demand, just like every year.

An extra week of inventory of older devices means they should be able to devote some additional resources (mainly assembly) that would otherwise be put towards the old generation to use in getting more of the new devices ready, which does of course assume that those areas were a limiting factor.

 

[Oyeve]

It was bad press like this that killed BlackBerry's reputation.

No, blackberry remaining in 1999 tech killed blackberry.

 

[dainthomas]

Was shaping up to be a real competitor but with poor G4 sales and decreasing market share, looks like they're going back in the wrong direction.

My girlfriend got the G3 last year and she absolutely loves it (of course she came from an iphone 4s). If I hadn't just gotten the Note4 I might have picked up the G4. What's wrong with it (other than the skin)?

 

[J Rock]

I don't know about the finances or whether they are a success but it is my personal opinion that they are too expensive. I don't want to spend 1500 for a laptop, or 600 for a watch.

Some people have the finances to afford Apple products, and I say more power to them. Maybe if I could afford their products my opinion would change, as would my opinion of a Range Rover or a house in Laguna Beach, both of which I regard as too expensive. C est la vie

 

[Ns1]

While I'm agreeing that uses of the word "plummet" are OTT in this case, I wonder how big of a difference it makes to a business if they sell 1.5m less units of an expensive item that they expected to sell. That's a lost of costs incurred and a lot less profit than expected, and it might cause problematic ripples in production cycles of iPhones over the next few months or so, possibly affecting estimates for ip7 sales.

I think if a company gets within 3% of lofty sales forecasts they can probably pat thenselves on the back.

 

[stlc8tr]

While I'm agreeing that uses of the word "plummet" are OTT in this case, I wonder how big of a difference it makes to a business if they sell 1.5m less units of an expensive item that they expected to sell. That's a lost of costs incurred and a lot less profit than expected, and it might cause problematic ripples in production cycles of iPhones over the next few months or so, possibly affecting estimates for ip7 sales.

AFAIK, these are all estimates from analysts. Apple never publishes internal goals so no one has any idea what they actually forecast.

They do publish very low ball revenue numbers that they easily surpass.

 

[openwheel]

Been looking to try the iPhone 6 for upcoming road trip (Munchen-Venizia-Firenze-Como-Paris), but reviews indicate S6 has better camera. So....maybe next year.

 

[Achtung!]

Don't think he was mad, just pointing out that lots of people, most of them being Apple's highly satisfied customers disagree with you. Apple is and will move even more upmarket, I suspect they'll continue to be quite successful at it too.

Robert Scoble has pointed out that when he travels, he sees primarily iPhones, and Apple products used by fellow travelers, and when he's in first class, it's nearly 100% Apple products. When he speaks, it's nearly 100% Apple owners in the audience. Companies would kill to have that kind of demographics among their customers.

Apple's master plan: build devices that work well, provide industry leading customer support, make their ecosystem sticky. It's capitalism, and damn good business.

I've bricked half a dozen devices over the years, I can't manage to brick an Apple device. Just restored a 2011 MBA, before I sold it, did you know if you press command r on an Apple PC, it hooks up to WiFi, connects to Apple's servers and will install the OS? That's so handy and simple, I was impressed as hell.

With 80% of smartphones being Android, there's no sense in calling Apple a monopoly either, they just sucked all the profit out of the sector by building and supporting a better mousetrap.

Having a lot of extra cash isn't a good thing.

Apple needs to expand out of smartphones, but its high sales of iPhones especially in China are giving them a sense of security.

This is a reason why Apple is a smaller company than Samsung and Toyota, for example.

Apple only knows how to sell iPads, Macs and iPhones.

And unless a miracle happens and Apple's upcoming iPhone 6s sells more than the iPhone 6, Apple's profitability and, more importantly, revenues are in big trouble.

 

[Nebor]

The iPhone 6 was my first iphone (and first Apple product since an iPod Nano when they first came out) and I'm pretty impressed. I couldn't tolerate Windows Phone's failings any longer. I plan on getting the 6s when it comes out just to stay on the leading edge.