8 ms·

Apple to post its first quarterly revenue decline since 2003

42 points by baldfat 11y ago

wehadfun 11y ago
Apple is expected to report that March quarter sales declined 10 percent year over year to around $52 billion
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
kyriakos 11y ago
what goes up must come down at some point..
- simonh 11y ago
  Maybe Elon Musk can establish civilization on Mars before Apple can sell an iPhone to every man woman and child on Earth. The annoying thing is all the pundits predicting Apple doom for the last 9* years will all be saying "I told you so!". * Make that 19# years # Actually, make that 32 years
  - Touche 11y ago
    So about as long as people have predicted an Apple television ;)
  - kyriakos 11y ago
    from a philosophical perspective there simply must be a limit at which a corporation can grow. maybe they reached it.
Touche 11y ago
What's the reason for the iPhone sales shrinking? Cheaper competition has been around for many years.
- parasubvert 11y ago
  Smartphone saturation - the whole market is slowing, though particularly in the US and China where iPhone marketshare or growth is strong. http://www.pcworld.com/article/3027008/smartphone-growth-at-lowest-on-concerns-about-global-economy-saturation-in-china.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/3027008/smartphone-growth-at-... http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/29/smartphones-saturation-millennials-pew-research/74805506/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/29/smartphones-sa... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11812322/smartphone-sales-in-china-fall-says-gartner.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11812322... While the iPad seems to have stalled on its own significantly, this doesn't seem to be an iPhone-specific trend (yet)
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  No new markets, coupled with lack of upgrades. If you have a 5, there's no compelling need to buy a 6x because from a user pov it's just more of the same. Under Cook, Apple has iterated on faster/thinner/bigger/smaller/blingier, and there's been no significant original thinking. The execution is great, in a slightly wobbly way, but what's being executed has become formulaic, mundane, and unexciting.
  - Touche 11y ago
    Ok, not arguing just trying to understand better. Surely people are still upgrading. Perhaps it's less frequent? Like, now people are waiting their full upgrade period (or longer) whereas before many upgraded frequently?
    - JoshGlazebrook 11y ago
      We've also seen the shift away from 2-year contracts here in the USA. People are now aware that phones actually cost $600+ and are either paying full price, or monthly installments to pay off the $600 phone they bought.
      - Touche 11y ago
allsystemsgo 11y ago
They'll likely put a lot of emphasis on their services number(s), which is growing substantially.
pbreit 11y ago
Do we know the impact of the new iPhone pricing models where people pay Apple a monthly installment? Is it just a wash? At first glance, it seemed like this was increasing Apple's take.
- JoshGlazebrook 11y ago
  It doesn't change the amount of money Apple gets. The carriers still were buying the phones from them at wholesale or full price, and just subsidizing the upfront cost of the phone by selling it at $199 to the customer but baking in the rest of the phone into their monthly voice/text/data plans.
  - stanmancan 11y ago
    I don't think OP is referring to getting the phone from your carrier, they're referring to the 'iPhone Upgrade Program' where you pay Apple a monthly installment and get a new phone every year: http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program
    - ewang1 11y ago
      It's financed through Citizen Bank, so odds are Apple is being paid in full (or at least most of it) up front.
      - pbreit 11y ago
        Whichever it is, wondering if it's improved (or not) economics to Apple.
brandon272 11y ago
From my perspective as an Apple fan and consumer, when I look at the current iPhone 6S offering and the current Macbook product lines, I feel as though Apple's value proposition is eroding. It wasn't long ago when I would have considered it silly to purchase last-gen Apple products. Today it doesn't seem silly at all. Although, I am a little sore about the current state of the Macbook product line and I hope that Apple really knocks it out of the park this summer or fall with an updated suite of products, particularly in the realm of a lightweight 13" retina offering.
bitmapbrother 11y ago
if you think the 5% drop market cap in Google and MS last week was big you ain't seen nothing yet. Everyone's getting a haircut.
- bitmapbrother 11y ago
  Stock down 7% in after hours trading.

42 points by baldfat 11y ago

wehadfun 11y ago

Apple is expected to report that March quarter sales declined 10 percent year over year to around $52 billion

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

kyriakos 11y ago

what goes up must come down at some point..

simonh 11y ago
Maybe Elon Musk can establish civilization on Mars before Apple can sell an iPhone to every man woman and child on Earth. The annoying thing is all the pundits predicting Apple doom for the last 9* years will all be saying "I told you so!". * Make that 19# years # Actually, make that 32 years
- Touche 11y ago
  So about as long as people have predicted an Apple television ;)
- kyriakos 11y ago
  from a philosophical perspective there simply must be a limit at which a corporation can grow. maybe they reached it.

Touche 11y ago

What's the reason for the iPhone sales shrinking? Cheaper competition has been around for many years.

parasubvert 11y ago
Smartphone saturation - the whole market is slowing, though particularly in the US and China where iPhone marketshare or growth is strong. http://www.pcworld.com/article/3027008/smartphone-growth-at-lowest-on-concerns-about-global-economy-saturation-in-china.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/3027008/smartphone-growth-at-... http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/29/smartphones-saturation-millennials-pew-research/74805506/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/29/smartphones-sa... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11812322/smartphone-sales-in-china-fall-says-gartner.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11812322... While the iPad seems to have stalled on its own significantly, this doesn't seem to be an iPhone-specific trend (yet)
TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
No new markets, coupled with lack of upgrades. If you have a 5, there's no compelling need to buy a 6x because from a user pov it's just more of the same. Under Cook, Apple has iterated on faster/thinner/bigger/smaller/blingier, and there's been no significant original thinking. The execution is great, in a slightly wobbly way, but what's being executed has become formulaic, mundane, and unexciting.
- Touche 11y ago
  Ok, not arguing just trying to understand better. Surely people are still upgrading. Perhaps it's less frequent? Like, now people are waiting their full upgrade period (or longer) whereas before many upgraded frequently?
  - JoshGlazebrook 11y ago
    We've also seen the shift away from 2-year contracts here in the USA. People are now aware that phones actually cost $600+ and are either paying full price, or monthly installments to pay off the $600 phone they bought.
    - Touche 11y ago

allsystemsgo 11y ago

They'll likely put a lot of emphasis on their services number(s), which is growing substantially.

pbreit 11y ago

Do we know the impact of the new iPhone pricing models where people pay Apple a monthly installment? Is it just a wash? At first glance, it seemed like this was increasing Apple's take.

JoshGlazebrook 11y ago
It doesn't change the amount of money Apple gets. The carriers still were buying the phones from them at wholesale or full price, and just subsidizing the upfront cost of the phone by selling it at $199 to the customer but baking in the rest of the phone into their monthly voice/text/data plans.
- stanmancan 11y ago
  I don't think OP is referring to getting the phone from your carrier, they're referring to the 'iPhone Upgrade Program' where you pay Apple a monthly installment and get a new phone every year: http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program
  - ewang1 11y ago
    It's financed through Citizen Bank, so odds are Apple is being paid in full (or at least most of it) up front.
    - pbreit 11y ago
      Whichever it is, wondering if it's improved (or not) economics to Apple.

brandon272 11y ago

From my perspective as an Apple fan and consumer, when I look at the current iPhone 6S offering and the current Macbook product lines, I feel as though Apple's value proposition is eroding. It wasn't long ago when I would have considered it silly to purchase last-gen Apple products. Today it doesn't seem silly at all. Although, I am a little sore about the current state of the Macbook product line and I hope that Apple really knocks it out of the park this summer or fall with an updated suite of products, particularly in the realm of a lightweight 13" retina offering.

bitmapbrother 11y ago

if you think the 5% drop market cap in Google and MS last week was big you ain't seen nothing yet. Everyone's getting a haircut.

bitmapbrother 11y ago
Stock down 7% in after hours trading.