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Investing.com- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: ) may see weaker sales of its iPhone 6 range in December, UBS analysts said in a recent report, citing lingering concerns about weak demand and declining market share in the Chinese market.
UBS cut its December iPhone unit/revenue estimates to 74 million units and $67.2 million in revenue from 77 million units and $69.7 million in revenue. While the firm sees some stability in Apple’s services revenue, its downbeat forecast for iPhone sales saw a 2% negative improvement on UBS’s December quarter earnings estimates to $120.8 billion, below street estimates of $124.9 billion.
UBS also lowered its earnings per share estimate for the December quarter to $2.25 from $2.31, compared to Street estimates of $2.36.
The company noted the latest data from Counterpoint Research that iPhone sales fell 8% year-over-year in November to 20.7 million units, with China accounting for most of this decline. The global iPhone share also fell to 20.1% in November – its lowest level since November 2019.
The brokerage noted that October and November typically account for most of Apple’s iPhone sales in the December quarter, with November’s decline not working well for the tech giant.
“We now expect iPhone revenue to decline 5% YoY in the December quarter, missing both our estimate, the VA consensus and the positive growth highlighted by the company during the Sept quarter earnings report,” UBS analysts said in a note.
Apple has been struggling with years of declining device sales, and much of this decline is due to weak demand in China. The company also faces stiff competition from local players such as Huawei and Xiaomi (OTC:).
Apple’s introduction of artificial intelligence features in its flagship iPhone 16 models didn’t do much to boost sales, as the company far outpaced its rivals in introducing AI features. The tech giant is also yet to develop any AI components in China due to regulatory hurdles.
However, Apple’s services revenue remains strong, thanks to support from strong AppStore sales and demand for its software offerings. This is expected to reduce the overall decline in wages.
