Apple disappoints and already provides first drop in sales of the decade – Daily News – Lisbon

Brand avoided a historic drop in sales, but the iPhone is stagnant and either the iPad or computers fell

The warnings were there for months and were confirmed: Apple hit the record sales and profits in the last three months of 2015 but not enough to get a visible growth. The iPhone has reached 74.8 million units sold, which is a milestone in its history. At the same time, it is the worst level of growth ever – 0.4%, or 300,000 units more than in the same period. Analysts had expected at least 76.5 million in the first fiscal quarter of Apple, which ended on the day after Christmas. Since its launch in 2007, the iPhone had never obtained a rise as insignificant. And what comes next should be even worse.

“We are facing extreme conditions,” said CEO Tim Cook in the conference with analysts following the release of results. The executive pointed to the challenges of the “global macroeconomic environment,” which is deteriorating, and considered that the results were extraordinary given the contraction of the largest economies and the devaluation of the euro and the pound. “Two-thirds of Apple’s revenues come from outside the United States,” he said Cook, calling it “dramatic” the devaluation of currencies against the dollar.

Still, when it comes to turnover and profits, both are solid numbers and never before attained levels. Revenues of 70 billion euros and profits of EUR 17 billion put Apple on top of their own accounts, “in line with expectations,” said Tim Cook, but an increase of only 2%.

A good performance in China (up 14%), a rise in Europe (over 4%) and strong sales of Apple Watch and Apple TV have prevented the fall in revenue that some feared. Cook said even though these two devices had “the best quarter ever” in the holiday season, but without revealing figures. The division into the Watch and TV are recorded along with the music Beats and iPod products, recorded a 62% jump in revenue. In the software business and services, growth was also important: 26%

However, the two most important categories of products after the iPhone fell.. The iPad sales retreated 25% over the same period, although it has grown 63% in the fourth fiscal quarter (ended September). Already selling Mac computers reversed a very positive cycle to fall 4% compared to Christmas 2014, going up by 5.3 million units.

bleak perspectives

Overall, the figures for the quarter are significant. The problem is what comes next. The guide to the results expected in the second fiscal quarter ending in late March, Apple expects a turnover between 46 and 49 billion euros, which represents a significant drop from the 53,400 million in same period of 2015. It will be the first time in 13 years that revenues fall, and this is of concern to investors and analysts. It is projected the formation of a negative scenario, you enter the slowdown of emerging economies, the saturation of western markets, monetary uncertainty and the transformation of momentum in smartphones. Both Gartner and IDC predict a timid growth for this segment and say it is in low-cost models is the biggest boost, not the tops of the range as the iPhone.

On the other hand, Apple You have a product that can compensate for the slowdown in iPhone, either in volume or profitability. Wherever goes the future? The analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, asked Tim Cook about virtual reality, as rumored that Apple is interested in entering this market. Cook said that virtual reality “is not a niche” and “have very interesting applications.”

However, it seems that the focus short-term brand will again be on the iPhone. The expectation is that Apple presents a new smartphone in March, but with very different characteristics of the past: it should return to the compact size, with a four-inch screen. The code name is iPhone 5SE and the launch perspective to April, with a lower price compared to larger models and options of 16 or 64 storage gigas, A9 and M9 processors and improvements in virtual assistant Siri.

What is expected also for this event, or a date near, is the revelation of Apple Watch 2, the wearable who leads the smart watch market, according to the consultants, but without figures of official sales.

“We are investing in new markets like India and other emerging countries,” he shared Tim Cook, being positive about the long-term. “We have a customer base loyal and very satisfied,” he noted. “We recorded the highest number of customers who switched from Android to iPhone. It had never been so high.” The truth is that it was also not enough for the thunderous numbers that the market has become accustomed, and no one risks going back.