JPMorgan slashed its production estimates on Apple’s iPhone X for the first and second quarters, and also took the opportunity to lower estimates for units shipped in the second quarter.
According to a report in Seeking Alpha, the Wall Street firm now expects Apple’s iPhone production to be at 15 million units in the first quarter, down 25 percent from their previous estimate of 20 million units. For the second quarter, JPMorgan analyst Narci Chang cut his estimates by 44 percent to 10 million units from 18 million units. For overall iPhone sales, JPMorgan now expects Apple to ship 52 million units, lower than the past guidance for 55 million units in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the estimate went to 42 million units from 45 million units.
The call out of JPMorgan comes as Apple is struggling with the iPhone X in China, a huge market for the company and one in which it has struggled. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, shoppers in Asia, including in India and Indonesia, are choosing Chinese smartphones from the likes of Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo over the iPhone X. Chinese handset makers are developing high-end smartphones that compete directly with the iPhone X, but don’t cost as much.
The newspaper pointed out that in both India and Indonesia, the market share of Apple devices has remained flat since 2013. Meanwhile, the market shares of Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo, the three Chinese handset manufacturers, are seeing increases in demand. In Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, Apple hasn’t logged any jumps in market share – and in many cases, has even lost shares during the past few years.
OPPO and Vivo, meanwhile, have been seeing their market shares increase in those regions during the same time period. Both Chinese handset makers include selfie cameras and software in their phones, and they are still $100 (or more) cheaper than the least expensive iPhones.
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