In 2016 the share of Apple had a lot of pessimistic forecasts. The annual profit of the company for the first time began to decline. However, in General the company showed good results. For 2016 the iPhone maker received more than $45 million in net profit.
Shortly before the end of the year the Japanese financial publication the Nikkei Asian Review also could not resist and threw the stone towards the Apple. On the eve of New year, they published an “exclusive” material, where it was argued that next quarter Apple will reduce the annual production of the iPhone by 10%. In the report it was reported that despite previous attempts to reduce production, the demand for the iPhone 7 remains lower than expected.
However, current data do not confirm these findings, writes Insider.pro. Judging by the General trend of the introduction of new iPhone models in the market, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — the latter in particular sold very well.
Nikkei Asian Review long been a consistent negative position against the iPhone. In may the newspaper wrote that the iPhone 7 — bad idea, devoid of novelty.
In August it reported a possible disruption of supplies of new models, as well as what orders was reduced by 15-20% during the year. They continued to argue that demand will continue to decline like it did with the iPhone 6s. In October the material has been noted that sales of the iPhone 7 are better compared to previous forecasts, but still in the future is expected to decline.
Statistics promises growth
If the sources the Nikkei Asian Review spoke the truth, in the past quarter iPhone sales would have fallen compared with the beginning of the year. However, apparently, this did not happen.
According Fiksu, December 31, the last day of the first quarter of the financial year, Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is made up 12.2% of all used models. For comparison, a year earlier, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus was 12.5% of all used iPhone models.
Yes, sales fell slightly. Anyway, the number of downloads of the software iPhone for the past year increased from 15% to 20%. Thus, each percentage point of use now means most iPhone.
Due to this utilization iPhone collected by Fiksu indicates a small double-digit growth in sales of smartphones in the last quarter. Estimated another company that collects data on the use iPhone, Mixpanel, in the case of the iPhone 7 growth even more.
It is important to note that quantitative data on the use of smartphones reflect the approximate sales to end users. At the same time, Apple provides information about volumes of supply, which shows the dynamics of inventories of third-party distributors. A year ago, Apple has significantly increased partner delivery, which later led to their painful decline. The company strives to prevent a similar situation this year.
As a result, even if the sales observed double-digit growth compared to the previous year, Apple is likely to report a definite increase in iPhone shipments. But other things being equal a reduction in partner supply in this year will lead to their growth over the next two quarters.
Apple’s results can exceed expectations
In October, Apple is expected in the first quarter revenue will grow from 0% to 3% compared with the beginning of the year. According to CEO Tim cook, Apple’s ability to increase production of iPhone 7 Plus to meet demand, was the key factor that influenced the results of the first quarter.
After several months of supply disruption, Apple has made an impressive leap to meet the demand for the iPhone 7 Plus. This may mean that demand for the iPhone 7 Plus has surpassed the expectations of Apple. If so, Apple’s revenue for the first quarter will exceed projected. In addition, the iPhone 7 Plus is one of the most profitable products of Apple, and that’s a good sign for gross profit.
Overall, at the moment, analysts expect quarterly revenue growth of 2% compared with the beginning of the year, which coincides with the predictions of Apple. The expected reduction in earnings per share compared to the previous year. A flood of negative reviews in the media, as well as supply disruptions force investors to doubt, but the real dynamics of the use tells a different story.
The range of iPhone models, it seems, once again shows growth as in the previous quarter. Given that disappointing report last summer was not confirmed, investors should not ignore the negative headlines.
