Apple is all set to report its fiscal Q2 2019 earnings at the end of this month. (Apple’s Q1 2019 is counted as the period between October to December of last year. And Q2 2019 is January
OTR Global, the stock researcher, recently issued a new investor note. In this, they predict that Apple will ship between 37 to 42 million units of iPhone in the second fiscal quarter of 2019. These numbers are a contradiction to what Wall Street analysts were expecting. According to them, the shipments are likely to range between 40 to 45 million.
Will Apple Deliver The Numbers?
OTR Global’s prediction is based on the surveys conducted in the Asian Market. They asked 18 Asian chain executives about iPhone orders and demand during the quarter. The conclusion: Apple would likely miss expectations. OTR attributes that the downfall is due to weak demand of the new iPhone XS and iPhone XR models. And as per OTR predictions, Apple Q2 2019 will see a year-on-year decline by 21 to 24%.
In its first quarter, Apple reported an iPhone sales decline of 15% from the prior year. They blamed it on steeper-than-expected economic deceleration in China and other emerging markets. During this time, Apple retailers offered a discount and a temporary price cut, in an effort to boost sales. In India, iPhone XR 64GB is currently available for Rs. 59,900, discounted from 76,900. And the iPhone XR’s 128GB and 256GB were available for Rs. 64,900 and Rs. 74,900 respectively. There was another 10% discount for HDFC customers. However, all these efforts didn’t really work for the tech giant.
As for this quarter, as Apple no longer reports iPhone sales, it will be nearly impossible to gauge how accurate the analyst predictions are. Moreover, Tim Cook and his team will be under great pressure during this quarter than the last one. Due to lower than expected demand during Q1, Apple was forced to revise its earnings outlook.
The Guidance Provided By Apple:
- Revenue: $55 to $59 billion
- Gross Margin: 37 to 38 percent
- Operating Expenses 8.5 – 8.6 billion
- Other income/ (expense ): $300 million
- Tax rate: Approx. 17 percent
And if we compare, Apple reported revenue of $ 61.1 billion and iPhone sales of 52.2 million during the Q2 2018. It also shipped 9.1 million iPads and 4.07 million Macs, with revenue falling right within their guidance.
Now, we have to wait and see how accurate is the guidance of Q2 2019. And of course, how accurate the predictions are. Apple will report its earnings for this quarter on April 30th. It will be live streamed on its Investor Relations webcast.
