By Justin Cohen, News Staff Writer
Posted 10:30 PM EST, Thurs., Oct. 6, 2016
This year the passion for Apple phones has dwindled on the horizon of their latest release.
Before the iPhone 7 went on sale to the public, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a statement that the company would not be releasing the sales figures to the public, saying this would be more indicative of the efficiency of moving stock rather than the demand of the phone itself. Information gathered from third-party analysts, however, have shed some light on how many products were moved.
Apple stock slid 2.7 percent amid rumors from German firm Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), a research firm specializing in market information, that suggested the iPhone 7 sales would be lower than last year’s, based on data in Europe and Asia. The report released by GfK has reported a 25 percent drop in sales compared to the release of the iPhone 6 and 6s in 2015.
“Numbers on sales or market shares are confidentially provided to our clients and shall not be quoted or released to the public. We did not publish these figures for external release,” GfK mentioned in their emailed press release.
The figures released to the public stated that the consumer are anticipating of the iPhone 7. However, the iPhone 7 sales are slotted to be lower than expected, but the iPhone 7 Plus has exceeded expectations.
Although GfK is simply conducting market research and not offering official numbers, their sentiment has been corroborated by other research firms. For instance, KGI Securities, a financial services group in the Asia-Pacific region, have showed similar results, as Apple’s their stock has consistently spiked since mid-April.
“The response to the iPhone before its release has really been a collective yawn.” said Jeremy Kaplan, editor-in-chief for Digital Trends, an online source for technology news and product reviews of HDTVs, laptops, and smartphones.
Unfortunately, many technology magazines share the same sentiment. Seemingly, Apple’s small innovations are not enough to keep people interested.
Although the iPhone 7 sales numbers are what all smartphone manufacturers should strive for, they are still relatively low when you compare them to other iPhone generations.
It’s not just the statistics, fervor for the iPhone has died down. Online as well as in-line consumers have shown a waning excitement. The release in London’s flagship store, usually mobbed with people during the new handset’s release, was met with a lackluster crowd. This can be attributed to Apple’s decision to only accept pre-orders and not sell the phone to walk-in customers.
“I understand why people may be disappointed in the new iPhone because there were a lot of unexpected changes made to this phone that previous iPhone users have not had to experience before,” said Eric Brown, senior psychology major.
It can be seen as a combination of Apple’s business practices as well as technological choices that have muted the new phone’s release. Many consumers disagree with the new phone’s lack of a headphone jack, which has caused an uproar on the internet and social media. Cook stands by the decision to nix the headphone jack calling it courageous.
“Wireless is the future; and when you decide what the future is, you want to get there as fast as you can,” said Cook during his interview with Good Morning America.
Whether the lower-than-expected sales are an anomaly or a new precedent for Apple is yet to be seen. But it is definitely not good news for the company in the short-term.
