Tag Archives: aapl

It’s Not Just Apple, Smartphone Market Is Declining Overall

Apple ( AAPL ) shares have tanked since the company late last Tuesday reported its first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales and guided handset sales lower for the current quarter. But it’s not just Apple. The overall smartphone market is in decline as users see little reason to upgrade to new handsets. “The smartphone decline is just beginning and we don’t see any reason that the overall smartphone market will recover going forward,” Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang said in a research report Wednesday. “Smartphone demand is becoming a big issue and smartphone features are not boosting demand anymore.” Those were among his key takeaways from Q1 earnings reports released so far by smartphone makers and their component suppliers. He predicts that technology upgrades will slow for smartphones. He does not see virtual reality and augmented reality applications boosting smartphone sales in the near term. And Apple faces downside risk from expectations possibly being too high for the upcoming iPhone 7, Zhang said. “The market might think the worst is over after the June-quarter guidance,” he said. On Tuesday, Apple stock rose 1.6% to 95.18, ending an eight-day losing streak . But shares turned south again on Wednesday and were down more than 1%, near 94, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Last month, research firms Juniper Research and Strategy Analytics reported that global smartphone shipments fell, for the first time ever, on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter. RELATED: Apple Investors Worry That Glory Days Are Over

Apple Hires Former Google X Lab Leader For Health Care Push

Apple ( AAPL ) continues to bring in more engineering talent amid a fall for its stock. The company has reportedly hired Yoky Matsuoka, most recently head of technology at Google’s Nest, to work on health science projects. Matsuoka, a robotics expert, co-founded Google’s experimental Google X lab in 2009 before joining Nest. While Nest has been struggling, Matsuoka left the smart house company last year before negative media reports surfaced. A Fortune report says Matsuoka will work on Apple’s HealthKit, ResearchKit and Carekit software projects. Apple last month hired Chris Porritt, who had been Tesla ’s ( TSLA ) vice president of vehicle engineering. He will work on Titan, Apple’s car project, reports say. Google restructured last year, creating  Alphabet ( GOOGL ) as the umbrella company over its main company, Google, and over its far-flung investments, known internally as “Other Bets.” Google bought Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in early 2014. Nest, a maker of web-connected devices, then acquired Dropcam for $555 million in cash. Nest CEO Tony Fadell has come under pressure as top executives leave. As a senior vice president at Apple before co-founding Nest in 2008, Fadell helped developed the iPod. Former Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy and other employees recently left Nest. Nest also has parted ways with its director of hardware design and engineering, Shige Honjo, said Re/code .

‘Apple Fallout’ Likely To Tug Qorvo’s June View, But iPhone 7 Nears

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone drag will seize another victim Wednesday, a Goldman Sachs analyst suggested Tuesday, ahead of Qorvo ‘s ( QRVO ) quarterly earnings report, with Wall Street forecasting the chipmaker’s first year-over-year sales decline in eight quarters. But the Apple trough will likely resolve in the second half of the year, when the iPhone 7 ramps, Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari wrote in a research report. He expects radio-frequency chip rivals Qorvo, Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) to see growth from the release of the iPhone 7, expected in September. “While unit headwinds and inventory burn at Apple could weigh on results, we believe we are at the trough of the cycle and expect RF fundamental to improve,” Hari wrote. “The RF content growth story is still fully intact.” First, though, heavily-Apple-exposed Qorvo has to survive the March quarter, for which Apple reported its first-ever year-over-year decline in smartphone sales. For Qorvo’s fiscal Q4, the consensus of 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters models $599.2 million in sales and 92 cents earnings per share minus items, down a respective 6% and 17% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Qorvo reports after the close Wednesday. Three months ago, Qorvo guided to $600 million in sales and 90-95 cents EPS ex items. Qorvo’s sales and EPS have decelerated for the past three and four quarters, respectively. Last quarter, EPS fell for the first time since September 2012. For the fiscal year, Qorvo is expected to report 52% sales growth, to $2.6 billion. But analyst consensus calls for a 10% decline in EPS ex items, to $4.26. In the stock market today , Qorvo stock rose a fraction to 45.04, while Broadcom fell 2% and Skyworks fell a fraction. Last week, Skyworks’ fiscal Q2 metrics topped analysts’ consensus, but Q3 guidance missed. Then, Skyworks stock dropped 6.9%. Hari says Qorvo stock could experience a similar dip. But Qorvo shares are already down 12% over the past 12 months, and “weakness may not be as pronounced,” he wrote. Hari cut his price target on Qorvo stock to 44 from 47 but kept his neutral rating. He trimmed his Broadcom stock price target to 171 from 175, but he still rates it and Skyworks both a buy. Among the three, Qorvo is the most Apple-exposed, Hari wrote. “We expect investors to focus on its (fiscal Q1) guide (impact of Apple fallout) and execution (share gains at Samsung),” he wrote.