Weak iPhone 6S Performance Forcing Apple Into Drastic Action

Forbes ^ | January 5, 2015 20:56 UTC | Ewan Spence

[Up Yours Marxists]

While the latest smartphones from Apple might have picked up critical acclaim after their launch in September, Apple is ready to cut the production on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus lines by thirty percent, reports Nikkei.

Nikkei suggests that the drop in production follows slower sales in Q4 2015. Apple's production for the iPhone 6S family matched the production numbers for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus. The lower sales of the newer handsets have led to more stock in the supply chain than Apple is apparently comfortable with, so the production will be slowed down for the next three months to reduce the backlog.

[Up Yours Marxists]

Nikkei is suggesting that sales are slowing 30%. This may or may not be a normal occurrence for Apple at the beginning of the year. Either way it's going to certainly spook investors. From a different article:

[AlaskaErik]

Does Apple think everyone is going to run out and buy the newest release every time? My iPhone 4 was over four years old before I finally got the iPhone 6. And that was only because I switched from a GSM carrier to a CDMA carrier, so I had no choice.

[Chode]

[TexasFreeper2009]

Who wants to buy products from a company with a sodomite CEO?

[dayglored]

“Drastic Action” ping....

[Dr. Sivana]

Since that is a growth chart, and the numbers remain positive, even if lower than the peak, it is still excellent compared to other large industries such as airlines and automobiles and other electronics, where the numbers often go below the zero.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Other than services the iPhone is really all they have. It’s obvious to me they have been living on their IOS based cash cow ignoring the fact that IOS has pretty much maxed out. They massive 200billion devaluation reflects what their future holds.

[dayglored]

“Noticeable decline”, eh? LOL... a “precipitous descent”, more like!

[dayglored]

> Since that is a growth chart, and the numbers remain positive, even if lower than the peak, it is still excellent...

Ah, but you see, whenever someone wants to make things look grim, but they can't because the numbers are good, they take the first derivative and don't make it obvious that's what they did.

Hell, I've seen these statistical hoodlums take the SECOND derivative when necessary, because the first was still too positive for their desires to trash the subject. You know, the ones that trumpet, "OMG! END OF THE WORLD! THE RATE OF INCREASE IS GOING DOWN!"

Tech writers whores are nothing more than click-bait factories. It's depressing that Forbes has fallen this low.

[Vision]

I imagine the state of Indiana is feeling good about now.

[Chode]

heh heh heh heh... pretty much

[montag813]

Kind of funny. An investor might well be concerned. But Apple still eats Samsung, LG, Motorola, Google and Sony for lunch with their phone profits.

[dayglored]

Oh, right, I forgot... and they FORECAST well into the uncertain future, to underscore their dubious point with conjecture. Nice. I'm surprised they didn't drop the 2017-2019 curve BELOW zero just because they can -- after all, it's just made up crap, why not go for broke?

What a freakin' joke these guys are.

And these same turkeys go after Microsoft the same way. I see it when I peruse for Windows Ping List articles. Doom and gloom, left, right, and center. Microsoft is doing fine, and will continue to do so. WTF is up with tech writers whores, anyway?

[bigbob]

Ah, but when public companies face the investment analysts, it is only “what have you done for me this quarter” that sustains confidence in a company, no matter how large the top line is.

[The KG9 Kid]

Where does this leave Apple's competitors with Android devices if 60% of all devices sold over the holidays were Apple products and only 0.3% of Android users are running the latest version of the Android operating system? Most Android users are still running a version of Android that's 2-4 years old, if not older. Many Android devices will never ever see so much as a real point release update.

If Apple's long term future looks like an economic downturn like Japan has been experiencing over the past decade-plus, then Android's future must look like the damned Syrian civil war in comparison.

[Dr. Sivana]

Ah, but when public companies face the investment analysts, it is only “what have you done for me this quarter” that sustains confidence in a company, no matter how large the top line is.

Yes, but ultimately that just reflects the perceived value of the company. If some analyst saw 20% growth for the next five years straight, the stock would have been overvalued, and due for a correction.

The stock price going down does not always correspond to the underlying solidity or profitability of a company (unless it goes WAYYYYYYY down). Marginal companies that do better than expected can see their value go up, yet they remain marginal companies.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

And don't get me started about the people that take the third derivative.

They're just a bunch of jerks.

/obscure math joke

[dayglored]

> And don't get me started about the people that take the third derivative. They're just a bunch of jerks. /obscure math joke

Wow, ya got me. I'm usually pretty good with obscure math jokes, even obscure physics jokes (that was my major), but this one went whizzing right by me like it was a stealth ninja.

Help?

[ctdonath2]

Third derivative shows the abruptness of changes - “jerks”.

[adorno]

"...it is still excellent compared to other large industries"

Yeah, there's a silver lining even for disasters.

But, Apple is the darling of the industry,and when the darling starts looking ugly, the investors might get spooked and so might the consumers. In fact, the consumers might start thinking that sales are bad because the device is less than the 'perfection' the expected from Apple, and could start looking for other makes/models. It doesn't take much to spook investors and consumers.