It looks like there’s still some time until the launch of the iPhone 16, but things don’t seem to be going well on Apple’s side. The company may be expecting a significant drop in iPhone 16 sales, at least if a new supply chain analysis proves correct.
Kuo predicted iPhone shipments would drop 15 percent
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently shared a post on Medium describing the challenges the company is facing. “Apple could experience the most significant decline among major global mobile phone brands in 2024,” says Kuo, reporting that iPhone shipments could fall 15 percent year over year. Considering the iPhone 16 is set to launch later this year, this could make it a tough read for the tech giant.
Kuo suggests that these problems are due to the decline in sales in China and the rise of new artificial intelligence features in Android phones. It seems Chinese consumers are turning more towards foldables at the higher end of the market, and Huawei’s comeback has exacerbated this problem. The report also states that Samsung raised its expectations for 2024 shipments by 5-10 percent following the Samsung Galaxy AI announcements, while Apple’s weekly shipments in China dropped by 30-40 percent. It’s too early to tell whether this is a short-term change or a long-term change, but the numbers don’t look good.