14 DAY TRIAL // Q4 FY2016 results reported by Apple a few hours ago revealed a 5 percent drop in iPhone sales, but despite this, the company still has a hard time aligning production with demand for the new generation launched in September.
In a conference call with analysts after the earnings report, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that the aim is to meet demand by the end of the year, but admitted that while this is possible for the regular iPhone 7 with a 4.7-inch screen, not the same thing can be said about the Plus.
It appears that the iPhone 7 Plus is selling better than everyone - including Apple - expected, so Cupertino is now working with suppliers to accelerate production of the new larger iPhone.
“It’s hard to say,” Cook explained when asked during the conference call if the company has a plan on how to align production and demand and what are the chances for this to happen soon. “I believe that on iPhone 7 we will, on iPhone 7 Plus I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say yes at this point because the underlying demand looks extremely strong on both products but particularly on the iPhone 7 Plus vs our forecast going into the product launch.”
Back to growth next quarter
And despite the decline in iPhone sales that Apple acknowledged today, CEO Tim Cook is confident the firm can return to growth next quarter, mostly thanks to this growing demand for the iPhone 7.
“It’s very hard to gauge demand when you’re selling everything you’re making, so we’ll find out more through the quarter but we’re confident enough to give you guys guidance that we’re returning to growth this quarter, which obviously feels very good for us,” Cook said.
Oddly enough, Apple no longer provides specifics on iPhone sales and the company even refused to share first-weekend sales, even though it did this for every generation launched in the previous years.
Many believed this was part of a strategy supposed to help fight declining sales, but Apple executives are now swearing that “we’re selling everything we can produce.” It remains to be seen if the next quarter indeed brings the iPhone back to growth, but if what Apple says these days is true, there’s a good chance this is going to happen.