The start of 2019 isn’t expected to be a positive one for Apple as an analyst has detailed in an investors note that the technology behemoth could cut iPhone production once more. While continuous iPhone sales drop is one reason, the latest prediction comes as a result of Apple facing challenges in China following the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
Just yesterday, Apple suffered another setback in Germany, where select iPhone models can no longer be sold thanks to the Qualcomm patent ruling. Apple was previously reported to cut back iPhone production, with the iPhone XR no longer being the hot-selling product that analysts earlier predicted.
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iPhone XR Believed to Take the Highest Cuts in Production – Analyst Believes Around 2.5 Million Units Will Be Scraped
Rosenblatt analyst Jun Zhang has said in the 4 million iPhone production cut figure, Apple reduced the iPhone XS numbers by 1 million and trimmed iPhone XS Max numbers by 500,000. He’s also cautioned investors to keep their eyes opened on Skyworks, TSMC, Qorvo, Cirrus, and Knowles. Qorvo was involved in the Qualcomm patent violation, which stated that select iPhone models to get banned in Germany. One of Qorvo’s executives was heavily disappointed and said that if the judge were to go through all the evidence, he would know that the firm did not violate any patent.
Other suppliers such as Viavi, Lumentum, and Sony will reportedly be safe from repercussions as the analyst states that Android manufacturers are said to adopt 3D sensing solutions in their mobile devices. The three suppliers mentioned before are most likely going to be responsible for supplying part of the setup necessary for those advanced 3D facial recognition systems in Android-powered handsets, which could be the reason why the analyst has not cautioned investors.
These series of negative events saw Apple’s market capitalization dropped to $744 billion as of closing today. Even though the entire market also suffered, Apple’s market cap is now well below Microsoft’s, which sits at $779 billion. Apple could make a comeback with its iPhone sales run, and if you want to know the Cupertino tech giant is up to regarding its plans for its future mobile phones, check out our previous coverage below.
- Apple Expected to Use ToF Sensor in 2019 iPhones, With a Lot of Android Flagships Expected to Get Native Support
- iPhone Lineup for 2019 to Feature Upgraded Face ID Camera With Newer Components – Faster Unlocking Inbound?
- 2019 iPhone Lineup to Get Same Water-Resistance Rating as iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR – No Extra Protection Expected
Source: Seeking Alpha
