14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has already launched the iPhone 7 lineup, but this isn’t going to stop the company from experiencing weaker sales this year, according to a new report by Gartner.
The analyst firm explains that the smartphone growth will slow down this year, and Apple itself won’t reach the same figures as last year because “volumes stabilize after a very strong 2015.”
Apple hasn’t provided any first-weekend sales for the iPhone 7, but the device was already sold out in large markets shortly after its launch - Apple, however, couldn’t align production with demand, so it’s believed that only a few units actually arrived in stores after the launch.
All eyes on the 2017 iPhone
Gartner, however, believes that the iPhone 7 won’t help too much for this year’s figures, but Cupertino is very likely to experience another boom in 2017, mostly thanks to a completely overhauled iPhone model.
The 2017 iPhone, which is an anniversary model as the iPhone turns 10, is expected to come with major upgrades over the existing generation, including an OLED screen, a glass-made body, plus front-facing parts integrated into the screen.
All these changes will make the iPhone lineup much more compelling, Gartner says, because they “are attractive enough to convince more replacement buyers.”
The iPhone 7 is not expected to generate the same excitement in the existing iPhone userbase, mostly because of the design similar to the 6s generation, so Apple has to wait until the next model to upgrade more users who still retain their older models.
As far as the rest of the smartphone market is concerned, Gartner claims that overall sales will total 1.5 billion units, a decline of 1.6 percent from the previous year. Android will continue to benefit from affordable models manufactured in China, but Gartner estimates that the premium smartphone sector will decline 1.1 percent in 2016, before eventually returning to 3.5 percent growth next year.