"Apple has slashed its internal expectations for iPhone unit
sales by up to 16%."
Delay to Cut 3G iPhone Sales
By MARK VEVERKA
DID YOU HEAR THE WORST-KEPT SECRET in silicon Valley? Apple Chief
Executive Steve Jobs is expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone this
week at the company's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco.
The Apple "fanboys" -- enthusiasts who clog the Internet with unbridled
praise for everything the company says and does -- have been chattering for
months about this day, as if it were the Second Coming. In fact,
anticipation of the third-generation, or 3G, iPhone has driven up Apple
shares (ticker: AAPL), which have been trading in the high 180s, nearly 60%
since February.
Having 3G capability would allow Apple's innovative smartphone to do many of
the nifty things it is designed to do because it will take advantage of the
upgraded networks of its carriers, such as AT&T (T) in the U.S. Third-
generation networks have more bandwidth, and are faster and more robust. I'm
sure the phone will be hugely popular, especially as software developers
start to roll out enticing applications, such as games and location-driven
services.
But what the fanboys won't tell you -- as won't many unabashed boosters in
the press -- is that the iPhone's production rollout is behind schedule.
That's what a number of tech hedge-fund managers are saying, attributing
their information to investigative research outfits that talk with engineers
and supply-chain managers at the contract manufacturer and component
suppliers in Asia. These sources say that Apple has slashed its internal
expectations for iPhone unit sales by up to 16%. They report that Apple had
planned to ship 12 million 3G units by the end of the third quarter, but now
expects to ship about 10 million to 10.5 million by the fourth quarter,
owing to production delays.
IN A RESPONSE TYPICAL AMID SUCH rumors, people have been stating that Apple
has shipped hundreds of thousands of 3G iPhones, which are supposedly
sitting on warehouse shelves. But hedge-fund sources say that Foxconn
International Holdings (2038.Hong Kong), the contract manufacturer that
assembles the devices, has shipped only several thousand. The blogosphere
and Wall Street have been running with the widely disseminated rumor that
production began in May. Apple hasn't publicly commented on this. (It
declined to discuss the reports with Barron's.)
Foxconn and component makers won't crank up mass production until the middle
of this month, although researchers say that they had been pressured by
Apple to start doing so a few weeks ago. The reasons for the delays are
unclear, but the most logical presumption is that Apple was too optimistic
about how fast supplier Infineon Technologies (IFX) would introduce a new
chipset for the phone. Infineon reduced its forecast for shipments this year
, and analysts suspect that it's Apple-related.
For the record, Apple has said only that it expects to ship 10 million phone
units -- period -- in 2008. It will be interesting to hear how many of the
highly coveted 3G phones will be available and how soon. I'm sure Jobs will
have an answer for everything. He usually does.
[ 本帖最后由 秋之皓月 于 2008-6-8 00:07 编辑 ]
Disagree. Too early to short at Apr. 25th. It will be a lot less risky when the second top formed and add to position when it broke the support. You really don't know what you are talking about.
狗仔卡
发表于 2008-6-9 05:53 AM
发表于 2008-6-11 12:52 PM
