Apple touts iPhone XR despite concerns
Analysts say sales have been disappointing
IPhone XR problems? What iPhone XR problems?
Thatwas the basic sentiment put forward by Greg Joswiak, vice president of product marketing at Apple. In an interview with Reuters, he tried to allay fears that the iPhone XR has turned into a bit of a turkey during the holiday shopping season.
“Since the iPhone XR be- came available, it’s been the best- selling iPhone each and every day that it’s been on sale,” he said, adding that the iPhone XR is Apple’s “most mainstream product and our most popular iPhone.”
With a starting price of $749, how “mainstream” the iPhone XR is could be a matter of debate. However, the phone is a relative bargain compared to the $999 iPhone XS and $1,099 iPhoneXSMax, both
of which went on sale Sept. 21. The iPhone XR only went on sale Oct. 26.
However, concerns about the iPhone XR — and Apple’s iPhone sales in general — have been on the rise throughout November. Apple has said it will no longer give quarterly unit sales figures for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers; earlier in the month, Lumentum, a provider of facial- recognition technology for Apple’s iPhones, said one of its “largest industrial and consumer customers” cut its orders for the coming quarter.
Lumentum didn’t say if that customer was Apple, but Apple is responsible for about 30 percent of Lumentum’s annual revenue, and the company’s announcement led man Ap- ple watchers to believe it is seeing weaker iPhone sales ahead. And last week, reports surfaced saying Apple was offering subsidies on the iPhone XR to mobile-phone carriers in Japan in order to boost disappointing sales for the phone in the country.
While Joswiak talked up the iPhone XR, not all analysts were sold on his enthusiasm.
On Thursday, Michael Walkley, of Canaccord Genuity, cut his price target on Apple’s stock to $225 a share from $250, saying that a recent company survey of consumers suggests “disappointing initial iPhone XR sales,” and “soft smartphone and overall iPhone demand.”
Apple shares slipped by 1.3 percent, to $178.61 on Thursday, and are down by more than 19 percent in November.