Things may get better for Apple with its 2nd-quarter iPhone sales: Ming-Chi Kuo

Ming-Chi Kuo made headlines in late 2018 when he released a re-worked estimation of his iPhone shipment volume predictions for this year. He claimed that Apple would only manage between 38 and 42 million mobile device sales in 2019's first quarter (1Q2019), whereas the company had achieved 50 million of the same in 1Q2018. Now, Kuo has released another new report in which his 1Q2019 estimate is now down to 36-38 million.

This downgrade for first-quarter shipment estimates is attributed to a decline in the demand for iPhones in China and other newer markets for the Cupertino giant. On the other hand, Kuo also projects that these shipments will bounce back in 2Q2019. Apple could achieve up to 37 million in terms of smartphone unit sales in this coming quarter. However, this is still a 14% reduction compared to 2Q2018. Then again, it is not as bad as the year-on-year shortfall predicted for 1Q2019, which, according to Kuo's calculations, could be as much as 29%.

On the other hand, Kuo is standing by his former iPhone shipment volume prediction (188-192 million units) for the whole year. Kuo believes that Apple can make this figure if it maintains a consistent number of shipments throughout the 2nd half of 2019. In addition, this forecast may only pan out so long as the current state of trade war between the US and China does not escalate, and so long as the levels of demand in the European market remain strong.

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