This Report Buttresses Projections That The iPhone Demand Is Weakening

Apple is now scaling down its orders from components manufacturers according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report. This comes just weeks after a report says Apple’s iPhone could possibly have peaked in the year 2015. This according to analysts is due to two factors;

1. Higher prices in international markets
2. A maturing smartphones market especially in developed economies

The above factors were on the weakening demand in Apple’s latest iPhones 6s and 6s Plus. At a time when the smartphone market is filled with options, Apple’s iPhones continue to experience a decline in developing markets where contracts that usually help their counterparts in developed economies are absent. So you want an iPhone in Africa for example where it is projected that there will be over 350 million smartphones by 2017, you would have to simply buy an unlocked version of the phone of course at a high cost. It becomes even more difficult to access genuine accessories of the iPhone here in Africa. A simple accessory like a counterfeit screen replacement could have devastating effects on your iPhone and so this has further discouraged more users in Africa.

In  the WSJ report, “A Chinese provincial capital promised Foxconn Technology Group—which assembles iPhones—more than $12 million in subsidies to minimize layoffs at its operations there, according to a government document. The subsidies came after Foxconn began dismissing some workers there earlier than usual for the Chinese Lunar New Year break, according to people familiar with the manufacturer.”

So really could 2015 be the year when the iPhone sales peaked? I guess we’ll have to watch and see.