iPhone assembler Foxconn had already predicted “significant growth” during the holiday quarter, but now says that October and November have been even stronger than expected.
The company told investors that its November revenue hit T$650 billion ($20.65 billion), the second highest on record for the month …
Some pessimistic reports
There have been some pessimistic iPhone 15 reports around. Bloomberg suggested in October that iPhone 15 sales in China have been lower than those of the iPhone 14 in the equivalent period. Analyst Jeff Pu echoed this, noting that this had implications for global sales.
For Apple, this certainly represents a risk. China accounted for 22% of total iPhone shipments in the first half of 2023, making it one of the most important regions for the company.
But Apple says the problem is supply, not demand
However, Apple painted a different picture in its September earnings report – which included around a week’s worth of iPhone 15 revenue. The iPhone maker reported significantly better earnings than analysts had expected, including a new record for iPhone.
The company reports $89.50 billion in revenue during the three-month period. Analysts expected revenue around $84.18 billion […]
CEO Tim Cook said: “Today Apple is pleased to report a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record in Services. We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup.”
Indeed, said Apple, the problem was that it was struggling to meet demand, and that appeared to still be the case into early November.
Speaking to investors and analysts today, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri pointed out that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are still facing supply constraints over a month after they were first released.
If you head to Apple’s website today, you’ll find that most iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max configurations are back-ordered by several weeks. Most of those configurations are also out of stock for in-store pickup at Apple’s retail locations.
Apple said that it expected to catch up in the holiday quarter.
Foxconn expects strong sales this quarter
Foxconn’s latest guidance appears to support Apple’s stance. India’s Economic Times reports the company experiencing a strong start to the holiday quarter.
Foxconn said in a statement that with the second half of the year being the traditional peak season for the tech industry, revenue performance in the first two months of the fourth quarter had been slightly higher than expected.
“Therefore, the outlook for the fourth quarter should be better than the original guidance for ‘significant growth'”, the company added.
Like Apple, Foxconn does not offer specific numbers, but it did say that November revenue was up 18% year-on-year, the second highest ever earnings for the month.
9to5Mac’s Take
Foxconn is not an exact proxy for Apple, as it performs contract manufacturing for a wide range of consumer electronics companies. All the same, the Cupertino company accounts for around 50% of its revenue, so this does tend to support the more optimistic view that the iPhone 15 line-up is selling well globally, even if sales are somewhat constrained in China.
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