iPhone sales plummet in first quarter of 2016

Seems like things at iPhone are not as hunky dory as one would imagine; or at least as hunky dory as they seemed last year. Reports are pouring in that sales for the smartphone giant have taken a turn for the worse, with shipments showing a decrease of 43.8% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to sales in the same period last year.

The Taiwan-based analysis company, TrendForce, has estimated that Apple sold about 42 million iPhones in the first three months of 2016, compared to the 55 million it sold in the first quarter of 2015. Consequently, analysts at TrendForce have lowered their estimation of the shipments that the company could push for this year to 213 million units. This number is also seeing a 10% drop since last year.

One of the reasons for the plummeting sales could be the previous iPhone itself. It is being suggested that the iPhone 6S was unable to create post-sale buzz, owing to the fact that it didn’t have any interesting features to offer. To quote TrendForce, sales for the iPhone 6S may be lacklustre because it “lacks exciting new features". The newer device that iPhone released, the iPhone SE, is also facing some issues, given the strong competition it faces in its price range from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi. Though consumers have been keen on buying an Apple product and switching to it, using content transfer apps, the numbers haven’t been very promising.

According SmartIO and TrendForce’s smartphone analyst, Avril Wu says, “this year’s iPhone SE shipments are projected to come in below 15 million units and they are unlikely to help turn around the weak annual shipment result for Apple”.

 

Let it be noted that this information does not come as a surprise to Apple. The company had been anticipating a drop this early. In fact in January, Chief Executive Tim Cook had suggested that the sales of the iPhone could see a decline. And given the fact that the device accounts for two-thirds of the company’s revenue, it is slightly encouraging that Apple was prepared for the decline.

In contrast, Samsung’s first quarter shipments exceeded expectations, this is mainly due to the early release of the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge. Another contribution factor is the success of the company’s J series, especially in the Asia region.