If there’s one thing Apple knows how to do, it’s selling smartphones by the truckload. But will that always be the case?
Apple’s yearly iPhone sales will fall in 2016, according to a top industry analyst.
That would mark the first drop in sales since Apple began selling its flagship product in 2007.
The prediction comes courtesy of Morgan Stanley’s chief financial analyst Katy Huberty.
Huberty released a note to investors suggesting Apple would see a 6% fall in sales over the 2016 financial year.
That equates to 2.9% in the 2016 calendar year, as noted by Business Insider.
Here’s a chart (via Statista) that shows the iPhone’s rise to success so far:
Related: iPhone 7 news
According to Huberty, Apple will sell 218 million iPhones in the next financial year.
The fall, she explains, will be caused by “higher prices in international markets (ex-China) and maturing smartphone penetration in developed markets weighs on upgrades and new user growth”.
With more people owning smartphones than ever before, there’s limited scope to keep increasing sales.
After all, it’s predicted that there will be 6.1 billion smartphone users by 2020, according to Ericsson’s 2015 Mobility Report.
What’s more, Apple is also having to compete with a growing roster of formidable mid-range handsets.
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Tell us what you think of the analyst’s prediction in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.