The world’s most loved (and most loathed) technology company has experienced a bit of blow this week, something they’re not entirely used to. Along with the sales of iPhone XRs this week, the price of shares in the company has also plummeted. They were not alone in the Wall Street drops this week, but Apple certainly found themselves at the center of the bad news. While drops in shares hit an average of 2% this week, Apple faced a massive drop of 5%. Their lowest for over three months, this drop has come around the same time that Apple have significantly reduced their orders and shipments from suppliers of product components.
Lumentum Holdings is a company which supplies parts for integral selling points of the iPhone (such as Face ID) and as such, Apple is responsible for 30% of the company’s revenue. With Lumentum facing a hit from Apple’s sudden decision to cut shipments from them, many are wondering whether this points to an overall sales drop in the iPhone. This theory, however, is murky, but could ring eerily true as Apple made the controversial decision to cease the publication of their sales figures earlier this year, a first for the iPhone giant.
In what could be a worrying break with tradition for the company, it took four days for the latest model of the iPhone to sell out – a striking change from the days when the newest gadget could render the Sold Out signs on release day. Now, this could also be to do with the fact that in the wake of the new iPhone, the slightly older model receives a $100 price cut, but that is not really going to help Apple continue to sell their flagship gadget at a productive rate. Given that the iPhone is responsible for 59% of Apple’s revenue (an alarmingly high figure given their wide range of products), this begs the question: are Apple worried? With the sudden reluctance to share figures, the drop in shares and the reduction in supply orders, it’d be easy to think so.
So while Apple are not exactly strapped for cash, they’re not thriving like they were during their innovative reign of the early 2010s. Perhaps Apple should focus on updating the capability of their devices, rather than the aesthetics.
