14 DAY TRIAL // One more source indicates that sales of the iPhone X are well below expectations, and this time we also get new estimates suggesting just how bad the anniversary iPhone is doing right now.
Citi analysts explain in a recent note to investors that the sluggish demand has dramatically impacted first-quarter sales, so they downgraded their estimate from 27 million to no less than 14 million units.
This means that the iPhone X is expected to sell half of the original numbers, with Apple itself also said to be cutting orders at suppliers, including at Samsung – which makes the OLED display used on the device.
Sales declining even more in Q2
Apple won’t manage to deal with the slow sales in the second quarter, and it’s all going to get even worse, according to the forecast. Citi says iPhone X sales could drop to no less than 7 million in the second quarter.
“We reduce our 1Q18E and 2Q18E iPhone build forecast mainly due to sluggish iPhone X demand. For 1Q18E, we now forecast overall iPhone shipment of 51m vs. 61m previously. We reduce 1Q18E iPhone X shipment to 14m from 27m. For 2Q18E, we trim total iPhone shipment to 40m from 40m previously as we revise down iPhone X shipment to 7m. Overall, we now model 1H18E total iPhone build of 92m vs. 85m in 1H17E, up 7% [year on year],” the analysts said.
Apple is hoping the 2018 iPhone generation would help deal with the declining sales, as it would launch a total of three different models, one of which would be specifically created to be offered with a smaller price tag.
The more affordable iPhone is projected to launch with an LCD screen, as compared to iPhone X which uses OLED, and give up on a number of features, such as 3D Touch and wireless charging. It will debut alongside a successor to the iPhone X and a Plus-sized iPhone X with a 6.5-inch OLED display.