The global smartphone market may be in the toilet, but the iPhone 13 continues to sell well, and Apple Inc is expecting its upcoming iPhone 14 to do even better at launch.
Apple’s slightly higher expectations for the forthcoming iPhone 14 underscore a growing belief among Wall Street analysts that the Cupertino, California company’s sales are likely to hold up better than the broader smartphone industry if major economies enter a recession.
Apple, which reports its fiscal third quarter earnings on July 28, conveyed its expectations to suppliers in initial forecasts as it carries out trial production of the iPhone 14, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
With Apple sitting at the higher end of the market, analysts believe that inflation in core items like food and fuel have taken a lesser toll on its relatively affluent user base. That comes as industry watchers such as Fubon Securities Investment Services Co chairman Charles Hsiao believe demand for consumer electronics will slow overall this year and next.
An economic slowdown in China has already taken a huge bite out of the smartphone market, pulling global sales down 10% year over year to 96 million units in May, the most recent month for which full figures were available, according to Counterpoint Research. It’s only the second time in nearly a decade that the monthly figure has slipped below 100 million handsets, the firm said.
But two iPhone supply chain sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that iPhone sales have continued to do well in July despite signs of cooling market demand for other smartphone makers.
