Apple’s iPhone 15 is expected to be announced in September and already the tom-toms are beating about a possible roll-out delay.
Apple focussed publication 9To5Mac says a Bank of America analyst who correctly predicted a delay in sales of iPhone 12 in 2020, predicts a somewhat similar fate with the coming iPhone 15. A delay in sales therefore would impact Apple’s bottom line in the fourth quarter, with less sales than normal by that time.
There needs to be a note of caution here. Blind Freddy could have predicted the 2020 delay, given the pandemic was declared in March 2020 and iPhone 12 was due in September 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing and the world was experiencing a global components shortage.
Nevertheless the analysis by Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan is being taken seriously in some quarters. He says iPhone 15 won’t go on sale possibly until late October 2023. It’s not a mammoth delay, but with Apple raking in billions from iPhone sales, a delay in cash-in-hand amounts to a mammoth amount when interest and other investments are factored in.
Apple raked in $US117bn in revenue in a quarter last year.
Publication Barron’s sighted Mohan’s investment note which also included a boost to Apple’s share price.
”Global Research analyst Wamsi Mohan on Wednesday raised his price target on Apple shares to $US210, from $US190, but reiterated his Neutral rating on the stock,” the investment note said. “He noted concerns that iPhone sales for the September 2023 fiscal year could miss consensus estimates.”
Barron’s reported Mohan saying that Apple’s June quarter results, to be released next month, were “likely to be ‘mostly inline’ with Street estimates”.
However the fourth-quarter guidance could be impacted by this concern about an iPhone 15 delay, with revenue coming in at $US87.1 billion instead of a “consensus” figure of $US91.6 billion, says Barron’s.
“Such delays are significant from the perspective of Apple’s financials,” the note reads. “The traditional late-September launch puts early sales into calendar Q3, which is Apple’s fiscal Q4. A delay into October or November means that these sales are instead logged in the following financial year,” says the Barron’s report.
The muddying of the waters over iPhone 15 comes as the waters clear up in another tech jurisdiction.
Bloomberg reports that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has paused its court action against Microsoft’s takeover of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard.
To some extent this is a formality. Microsoft had already won a court ruling for the deal to go ahead, which it can, but the FTC had more court action pending. That court action, if successful, would have the unenviable task of trying to unravel a merged entity.
The pause does indicate that the FTC has unfurled the white flag and all but accepted the inevitable. It may negotiate some concerns with Microsoft before giving the deal the thumbs up.
The other issue left standing is whether the UK regulator will withdraw its block against the acquisition, and indications are it is already doing that by delaying coming court action.
