Target's executives revealed in an earnings conference call that Apple sales at their stores dropped 20 percent, calling it one of the major reasons for missing earnings guidance, and forcing a revision for the next quarter as well.
Target CEO Brian Cornell told analysts on a conference call about the significant drop in Apple sales by volume. The lack of Apple sales was blamed for a double-digit sales decline in the company's overall electronics business.
Cornell also stated that Target was working with Apple to improve performance in the stores, but no specifics as to what the future plans are were given.
Target Corporation reported a second quarter sales decrease of 1.1 percent and earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.07, a decrease of 11.6 percent from the year-ago quarter. Other factors attributed to the Target losses were the same challenging retail market that Apple notes in its own earnings reports, a drop in grocery sales, and poor consumer response to the Target Pharmacy migration to CVS ownership.
Expecting a continued slide in both the third and fourth quarters of 2016, Target now expects comparable sales to fall in a range of no growth or a decrease of two percent.
Target started carrying the Apple iPod, iPad, and iPhone since retail sales programs began for the respective products. The retailer picked up sales for the Apple Watch in October 2015, following an April 2015 initial release date.