Today marks 12 years since Apple first launched the iPhone, and shows just how much can change in a little over a decade. Recently, the Cupertino tech giant made headlines when it slashed reduced revenue guidance for 2019’s first fiscal quarter. Apple now expects to earn $84 Billion over the quarter instead of the $88 Billion that it had predicted earlier. Now, as the iPhone turns 12, it’s only proper to take a look at how far it has come and brought Apple along with it.
Apple’s iPhone Unit Shipments Have Grown By 216 Million Units In Twelve Years – Data Suggests That iPhone 5 Contributed The Most To This Growth
Analysts and the press love to overhype the positive and negative when it comes to Apple. After all, extreme headlines attract users, and its reputation creates more interests. As was the case last year, as Apple’s first earnings for the yead head near, the media is abuzz with news for the company’s troubles.
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The gist of all these reports is that Apple was overly optimistic with its expectations for the 2018 iPhone lineup. Now, as it faces tough competition in Asia and fails to deliver substantial upgrades to the iPhone, reality has hit it with a $4 Billion drop in expected revenues. $4 Billion is a lot for ordinary folks, but when we take a look at Apple’s previous numbers, you’ll see that there isn’t much to worry (or celebrate) about here.
The first relevant bit of information to take a look at when analyzing current reports about Apple’s decline is financial data for the company’s 1Q18 and 2QO7. The former provides the company’s revenues for the same time period last year and the latter shows by how much it has grown since launching the iPhone. While we won’t bring Inflation in our comparison, Apple reported $5 Billion in Revenue in its second quarter of 2007.
In comparison, it posted $88 Billion in Revenue for 2Q18. That’s an $83 Billion increase, which if we’re rudimentary, translates into a $12 Billion growth per year. It’s also important to note that no other major smartphone manufacturers are based in America and the company had a 40% share of the US’ smartphone market in 2Q18. Steve Jobs’ love of margins has transformed that Apple into a money maker beyond what he might not have believed was possible in 1999.
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Nevertheless, Apple isn’t the same company either. It doesn’t launch ‘groundbreaking’ products anymore. So, some of the $4 Billion revenue decrease is some of its own doing. unit shipments for the iPhone have grown by 216 Million units over this same time period. The two largest contributors to this increase are Apple’s fifth and eighth generation iPhones, or the iPhone 4s and iPhone 6 (Plus).
The iPhone Has Matured, and Apple Will Need To Diversify Its Product Lineup Or Increase Market Presence Of Its Other Products:
Apple’s iPhone unit shipments grew by 53 million (BankMyCell) after it launched the iPhone 4s, and by 77.96 for the iPhones 5 and 5s. Now here’s the kicker: Apple witnessed a similar increase only after the iPhone 6 lineup and especially after it waited to launch a ‘phablet’. Early adopters and Android users looking for a larger-screened iOS alternative made the plunge.
But this was a short-lived victory as the iPhone 6s resulted in the Cupertino tech giant’s first unit shipment decline in years. Since then, Apple has been unable to touch 2123 million unit shipments. All the hype surrounding the iPhone X only managed to increase units shipped by 4.88 million. Net Income growth stood at 27% and 61% for the years 2014-2015 and 2011-2012.
Add all of the above with recent statistics from Counterpoint and you’ll see that Apple now relies on ASP to support its revenues. But investors don’t look happy, as, despite a commanding presence in the $800+ segment, the company’s market value is far from $1 Trillion right now; perhaps demonstrating the market’s shortsightedness.
Mr. Cook’s recent letter was apologetic in nature. Instead of boosting confidence, it merely provided a pragmatic account of the present and not of the future. It failed to highlight how his company has cemented its microarchitectural design capabilities. We believe that Apple’s only solutions to significantly increase its unit shipments and revenues is to either launch middle-tier gadgets or beefier processors.
But will it? The answer depends on the results of Tim Cook and Co.’s renewed efforts on trade-in iPhones. Instead of launching smartphones that will incentivize users to upgrade, Apple will now focus its efforts at coaxing them to an upgrade by offering discounts. The iPhone’s time is over, and if Apple wants to regain strong revenue growth it needs to move forward from smartphones. Of course, whether it can is another question.
All this combined makes a 5″ iPhone SE2 sound like a good experiment to conduct.
Thoughts? Let us know what you think in the comments section below and stay tuned. We’ll keep you updated on the latest.
