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Morgan Stanley Predicts iPhone Sales Will Drop Next Year for the First Time Ever

Posted December 14, 2015 at 3:36pm by iClarified · 10092 views
Morgan Stanley has published a research note from analyst Katy Huberty that predicts sales of the iPhone will drop in 2016 for the first time ever.

Business Insider says Huberty expects unit sales of the iPhone to decline in fiscal 2016 by nearly 6% (or 2.9% in the 2016 calendar year). Even in post-iPhone 5s period Apple has never had negative unit sales growth.

Morgan Stanley thinks that FY2016 iPhones sales will be 218 million – a 5.7% drop — while CY2016 sales will be 224,000 — a 2.9% drop. These predictions are significantly below Huberty's previous estimates, of 247 million for FY2016 and 252 CY2016.

The drop in predicted unit sales is being blamed on "higher prices in international markets (ex-China) and maturing smartphone penetration in developed markets weighs on upgrades and new user growth."

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also predicted a drop in iPhone 6s sales. Kuo noted that the iPhone 6s may not sell as well as the iPhone 6 with a possible 30%-40% decline in quarter over quarter shipments.

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