Apple Q3 likely to disappoint in wake of Brexit, slower iPhone upgrade cycles, analyst says

Apple's stock price is down over 1 percent in Tuesday trading in the wake of a Citigroup investor memo, calling for the company's sales to slide below Wall Street predictions when it announces third-quarter results on July 26.

The company is suffering not just from people choosing to upgrade their iPhones less often, but from the aftermath of June 23's "Brexit" referendum in the U.K., Citi analyst Jim Suva wrote in a memo seen by AppleInsider. The threat of the U.K. leaving the European Union has led to enough economic trouble and currency fluctuations that demand for Apple's products has supposedly dropped even further.

As of this writing, Apple shares were down to just under $94.80 in Tuesday trading, from an opening of $95.39.

Suva noted that between 2013 and 2016, typical iPhone replacement cycles have stretched from 24 months to 28, and could eventually hit 36. The analyst blamed the sitaution on a lack of high-profile features in recent models — while the 6 and 6 Plus updated the iPhone to modern screen sizes, the 6s and 6s Plus were only modest improvements, their one significant departure being the addition of 3D Touch.

The situation could potentially be exacerbated by this fall's "iPhone 7" and "7 Plus," since reports have suggested the devices won't have many major feature upgrades, and could in fact lose the industry-standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. Apple is thought to be devoting work to 2017 models instead, which could feature OLED screens with integrated Touch ID and camera components.

33 Comments

sky king 186 comments · 16 Years

About 8 years ago

What a bunch of balderdash. Apple is going to be just fine. So are the people who left the EU.

macxpress 5910 comments · 16 Years

I don't really get how Brexit could have a huge negative effect on Apple sales...Does Britain really have that many sales to have a negative effect on Apple's bottomline? Are people from other countries all of a sudden not buying Apple products because of this? I just can't connect the dots. Maybe someone here can.

Even if they are lower than normal...I bet their still higher profits than most other companies. You can't continue to have blowout profits quarter after quarter.

apple ][ 9225 comments · 13 Years

Brexit, lol. What the hell does Brexit have to do with Apple earnings? Isn't the earnings on the 26th of this month?

I do know one thing though.

The iPhone SE has been virtually impossible to buy in store at any Apple store. I know because I've been checking from time to time, and it's basically been out of stock since first released. They're selling faster than they can make them. Apple has not been able to keep up with demand since first released.

thewhitefalcon 4444 comments · 10 Years

Brexit is the new global warming, you can blame everything on it.

apple ][ said:

The iPhone SE has been virtually impossible to buy in store at any Apple store. I know because I've been checking from time to time, and it's basically been out of stock since first released. They're selling faster than they can make them. Apple has not been able to keep up with demand since first released.

It's probably a case of Apple not wanting to ramp up production too sharply, and then end up with a glut of inventory. Probably just hoping to ride the wave out.