The outlook for iPhone demand keeps getting murkier.
A Wall Street analyst on Friday slashed his outlook for 2016 sales for the Apple gadget, saying he expects the number of units sold will tumble 12 percent from last year — and predicting the upcoming iPhone 7 will be “a marginal cycle at best.”
Separately this week, a report by Kantar Retail found that Samsung’s Galaxy 7 line of smartphones grabbed 16 percent of total sales in the US during the three months ended May 31, exceeding the 14.6 percent of sales for the iPhone 6s.
As the momentum of the 6s slows, investors increasingly are fretting that the iPhone 7, expected to be unveiled in September, won’t be a significant upgrade.
Apple, which in April reported its first-ever quarterly drop in iPhone sales, is slated to give an update on recent demand when it reports results on July 26.
Recently leaked photos, unconfirmed by Apple, show an iPhone 7 design that’s little changed apart from a larger camera and a slightly thinner body that may come at the expense of the dedicated headphone jack.
Mark Moskowitz of Barclays warned Friday that Apple shares could be hit by “temporary pressure” as analysts ratchet down their estimates to account for iPhone malaise.
“The pain could be short-lived,” said Moskowitz, forecasting that this year’s iPhone unit sales will total 203.7 million down from 231.5 million last year. “Historically, the stock recovers after any summer sell-off in the lead-up to a new iPhone model launch.”
Still, the Kantar report earlier this week warned that both Apple’s and Samsung’s smartphones are increasingly vulnerable to competition from lower-priced rivals, most notably China-based Xiaomi and Huawei.
“Apple and Samsung should stop worrying so much about each other and take a look around them,” Kantar analyst Lauren Guenveur wrote, noting that Huawei aims to overtake Apple as the second-largest smartphone seller by 2020.
Guenveur likewise noted that “rumors are swirling” that Google will soon introduce a handset of its own.
Earlier this week, research firm IDC said Apple’s share of the worldwide PC market shrank to 7.1 percent from 7.4 percent as customers hold out for a long-awaited refresh to the MacBook Pro line.
Apple shares on Friday lost 1 cent to close at $98.78.