iPhone sales fell off a cliff last quarter - Fortune

iPhone Sales Fell Off a Cliff Last Quarter

Posted: 18 Apr 2016 07:21 AM PDT

Apple’s iPhone business had a rough first quarter, according to new data from research firm TrendForce.
Apple shipped 42 million iPhones in the first quarter, representing a 43.8% decline compared with the fourth quarter of 2015. It was also down more than 10 million units from the 55 million shipments Apple notched in the first quarter of 2015, according to TrendForce.
“Sales of iPhone 6s have been lackluster as the model lacks exciting new features,” the company said of Apple’s first quarter. TrendForce added that Apple itself has become “more conservative” with its smartphone inventory in preparation of launching its next handset.

Apple’s troubles in the first quarter provided it just 14.4% market share, down significantly from the 20.9% share it had secured in the fourth quarter. Apple had 19.9% market share in the first quarter of 2015.
The findings come on the heels of Apple announcing its latest iPhone, the iPhone SE. The device, which comes with a 4-inch screen, is designed to appeal to the midrange of the market and attract more customers who might be turning to cheaper devices in emerging markets. However, TrendForce, which has offices in Beijing and Shenzhen, says Apple’s latest handset could have some trouble attracting customers in the critical Chinese market.
“As the budget model, iPhone SE will support Apple’s overall shipments in the second quarter before the next major iPhone release,” TrendForce smartphone analyst Avril Wu said in a statement. “However, iPhone SE is going to face severe price competition from Chinese branded products in its target market, which is the mid-range device segment.”
Wu was bearish on Apple’s chances of success with the iPhone SE, projecting that the company will ship fewer than 15 million units this year.
The weak iPhone SE, combined with Apple’s own “conservative” handling of its supply chain, prompted TrendForce to project Apple would ship 213 million iPhones this year, down 10% compared with the previous year.
Despite the bearish outlook on Apple, TrendForce was surprised by Samsung’s success in the first quarter, saying that shipments “exceeded expectations” and reached 81 million units, a gain of 2.5% compared with the fourth quarter. Samsung’s shipments were, of course, boosted by its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge flagship devices, but nonetheless helped it take the top spot in the first quarter with 27.8% market share. The successful first quarter prompted TrendForce to raise its annual Samsung smartphone shipments to 316 million units, nearly matching its total shipments last year.
In addition, TrendForce noted that the first quarter was a solid one for Chinese companies, which combined to ship 125 million smartphones. It was the first time those companies, including Huawei, Lenovo, and Xiaomi, among others, combined to ship more smartphones than Apple and Samsung together. Huawei was the leading China-based smartphone maker during the first quarter.
“Huawei won’t be able to overtake Apple and become the No. 2 smartphone brand worldwide any time soon,” Wu said in a statement. “Still, the market share gap between Huawei and Apple are expected to narrow with each passing year.”
That said, this is just one quarter and it’s unknown at this point what Apple has up its sleeve for the rest of the year. The company is expected to launch the iPhone 7 later this year, which should come with a new design and several improved features. Apple has been doubted before, but one exciting new device could flip forecasts on their heads. Whether the iPhone 7 could be the device to do that remains to be seen.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the TrendForce report.
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com

Apple users I/D scam - The Independent

Apple users are receiving phishing messages designed to trick them into handing over their Apple ID passwords and other pieces of personal information.
People hit by the scam usually receive an unsolicited message which claims to come from Apple, urging them to immediately change their Apple ID password before it expires.
Victims are then directed to an unoffical but legitimate-looking website like AppleIDLogin.co.uk, where they are asked to input their username and password.

Anyone else received one of these Apple ID texts? Is it all above board or is it some kind of phishing scam?


After that, they are told their account has been locked for "security reasons," and are directed to enter other personal information like address and credit card details, in order to "unlock" the account, according to security expert Graham Cluley.
Of course, the site isn't genuine - it's all part of an elaborate phishing attack, designed to get users to hand over information which could be used by cybercriminals.
Many security-savvy people wouldn't be taken in by such a scheme, but the scammers have taken some measures to appear as real as possible, by using the recipient's real name in the text message and making their name appear in targets' phones as 'AppleInc'.

A number of Apple users appear to have been hit with the scam messages recently
There have been previous reports of this scam being carried out over emailbefore, but it appears to have reared its head once again.
Apple's phishing support page advises users to "never send credit card information, account passwords, or extensive personal information" to someone, unless they've fully verified the senders are who they say they are.

By carefully reading suspicious emails or texts and thinking critically about the message's claims, it should be easy to avoid such scams.
It also pays to look closely at the address bar of a website - if it's a genuine Apple site, 'Apple Inc', sometimes alongside a padlock, will appear in green on one side, depending on which browser you use.
It also helps to look at the URL itself - official Apple websites, like AppleID.Apple.com usually contain the company's actual domain. If you see something like AppleExpired.co.uk or AppleIDLogin.co.uk, you know something's amiss.
As usual, the best defence against phishing attacks is to stay vigilant and ignore or delete any messages that look even slightly suspicious. If you're still in doubt, contact the actual company directly, and they'll be able to verify whether there's any real problems or not.