For the first time in 16 years, Apple issued a profit warning yesterday, knocking $9 billion off its revenue outlook for the December quarter as it blamed the drop in iPhone sales on China’s slowing economy. In his letter to investors, Apple CEO Tim Cook also detailed revised guidance for upcoming fiscal 2019 Q1.
What Cook did not acknowledge, however, is the company is currently selling yesterday’s technology at tomorrow’s prices which consumers are beginning to realize and are instead opting for cheaper Android alternatives, particularly in China.
As pointed out by Forbes, none of the 2019 iPhone models will work on 5G networks whereas flagship smartphones from Samsung, Huawei, and OnePlus will all be 5G capable. However, the company does plan to release a redesigned iPhone X this year, claims Jean Baptiste, Vice-President and Principal Analyst at Atherton Research:
“Although we believe that Apple will release a re-designed iPhone X in 2019—with a smaller notch, a fingerprint reader (Touch ID) under the display, and a USB-C port—it will still lack the extensibility (memory card), the battery life, the lightning-fast charging capability, and the camera quality of Android flagship smartphones while being more expensive.”
Looks like Apple needs to focus on delivering the kind of innovation its high-priced devices were previously known for, rather than simply increasing the price of its smartphones. Some current nickel-and-diming of iPhone customers in 2019 include a 5W iPhone charger still (it’s been 11 years!) and a paltry 5GB of free iCloud storage.
