TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Where to next for Dimension Data

      5 July 2022

      Zapper is said to seek fundraising at huge valuation

      5 July 2022

      Stage-5 load shedding to continue until Thursday

      5 July 2022

      Big step forward for Cell C as debt deal approved

      5 July 2022

      Eskom unions accept 7% wage offer

      5 July 2022
    • World

      Scientists at Cern observe three ‘exotic’ new particles

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin’s first African adopter plans own digital currency

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin hints at a bottom – but it may be different this time

      5 July 2022

      China, US war of words erupts over lunar missions

      5 July 2022

      Tether fails to calm jittery nerves

      4 July 2022
    • In-depth

      The bonfire of the NFTs

      5 July 2022

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Sections»Consumer electronics»Apple is feeling the smartphone industry chill

    Apple is feeling the smartphone industry chill

    Consumer electronics By Debby Wu26 May 2022
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing the iPhone 13 in a company video in September 2021

    Apple is planning to keep iPhone production roughly flat in 2022, a conservative stance as the year turns increasingly challenging for the smartphone industry.

    The company is asking suppliers to assemble roughly 220 million iPhones, about the same as last year, according to people familiar with its projections, who asked not to be named as they’re not public. Market forecasts have hovered closer to 240 million units, driven by an expected major update to the iPhone in September. But the mobile industry has got off to a difficult start to the year and production estimates are down across the board.

    The worst inflation in decades, a war in Ukraine and supply-chain turmoil all threaten to weigh on sales in 2022. Strategy Analytics has predicted that overall smartphone shipments will contract as much as 2% in 2022, and TrendForce has twice downgraded its full-year production forecast in recent weeks. IDC and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts both forecast about 240 million iPhones for this year earlier in the period.

    Apple already warned that supply problems will impact sales by $4-billion to $8-billion in the current quarter

    The Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment on the outlook, which could change depending on the economy and supply constraints in the coming months. Apple doesn’t disclose its production targets and stopped disclosing how many iPhones it sells in 2019.

    Apple already warned that supply problems will impact sales by US$4-billion to $8-billion in the current quarter, largely because Covid-19 lockdowns are roiling production lines in China. And the whole tech industry is bracing for a slowdown in consumer spending as rising fuel and materials prices push up the cost of everyday essentials.

    The overall smartphone market got off to a rough start to the year, with shipments dropping 11% in the first quarter, the worst fall since the pandemic began two years ago. Xiaomi — the world’s third biggest smartphone maker, behind Apple and Samsung Electronics — posted its first-ever quarterly revenue decline this month.

    Wealthier customer base

    Apple is betting on resilient demand for its devices due to its comparatively wealthier customer base and the strength of its software and services ecosystem fuelling sales of hardware, according to the people. It’s also seeing less competition now that fierce rival Huawei Technologies has been shut out of markets, they added. Huawei, once the top phone maker by shipments, has seen revenue fall for six consecutive quarters.

    Moreover, Apple hopes to entice consumers with an iPhone that breaks more ground than last year’s model. The upcoming iPhone 14 handsets are expected to offer new screen sizes and more novel features like satellite-based text messaging. The iPhone 13, released last September, was considered a minor update.

    The company also just released an updated version of its lower-end iPhone SE that includes 5G, fuelling an upgrade cycle for more budget-minded consumers.

    Though the Chinese lockdowns are poised to take a major toll on Apple this quarter, the company expects to manage the turbulence, one of the people said. Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s main iPhone manufacturer, has been able to keep most facilities running. That includes its largest groups of factories in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

    Apple’s lower-cost iPhone SE

    Demand for smartphones typically ebbs in the second quarter, which may mean the impact of the lockdowns won’t be quite so severe. Suppliers will try to make up for any shortfall in production later in the year — when they hire more workers for the peak-demand holiday season — so long as China fully reopens and restores transportation lines.

    “This year will be a tale of two halves,” Strategy Analytics senior director Linda Sui said in a note last month. “Geopolitical issues, component shortages, price inflation, exchange rate volatility and Covid disruption will continue to weigh on the smartphone market during the first half of 2022, before the situation eases in the second half.”  — (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP

    Apple Huawei Samsung Tim Cook Xiaomi
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMusk pledges more equity to fund Twitter deal
    Next Article The cost for South Africa to quit its coal habit: R4-trillion – study

    Related Posts

    Scientists at Cern observe three ‘exotic’ new particles

    6 July 2022

    Bitcoin’s first African adopter plans own digital currency

    6 July 2022

    Where to next for Dimension Data

    5 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Hot Ink certifies and diversifies to maintain competitive printing edge

    5 July 2022

    Increased flexibility with Dell Precision Mobile Workstations

    5 July 2022

    The 5 secrets of customer experience in the cloud era

    5 July 2022
    Opinion

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.