AppleInsider Staff
Investors sent Apple stock sliding on Tuesday following reports that the Cupertino company may have been forced to dial back orders for its new flagship handsets due to lower-than-expected demand.
The news came courtesy of Credit Suisse, which slashed its full-year iPhone sales estimates for 2016 by 20 million units to 222 million. "We believe [the component] adjustments reflect a more subdued launch around the iPhone 6s/6s Plus in terms of uptake," the bank said, according to CNBC.
At press time, Apple shares were down 2.7 percent at $117.31 after falling by more than $3 from Monday's $120.57 close in pre-market trading.
"The cuts seem to be driven by weak demand for the new iPhone 6s, as overall builds are now estimated to be below 80 million units for the December quarter and between 55-60 million units for the March quarter," the note read.
Last month, Apple announced sales of 48 million iPhones in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2015. That represented a 22-percent year-over-year increase in unit sales.
Though it's not clear how much the iPhone 6s and 6s plus contributed to that mix, the devices did set a sales record in their opening weekend. Apple shifted over 13 million of the new handsets in the first three days of availability, besting the previous record of 10 million set by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Amber Neely
Andrew O'Hara
108 Comments
OK whom out there believes this? I really don't know because I don't follow cell phone sales in general. This report though seems to come out of nowhere and is slightly at odds with what I do know.
I know I am holding off the complete 6 cycle. My 5s works great and is too pretty to replace with that ugly dopey looking thing the 6/6s Looking forward to the 7 or maybe the rumored smaller one that is supposed to ship early next year,
These remind of the rumors that said the Zune was sold out, and that the Surface Pros were sold out.
Of course no one believes it. Until it becomes a federal crime for such BS they'll continue to do it and manipulate markets.
Market manipulation by short sellers, plain and simple. Time to buy more.