Apple hat gestern spät Abends eine deftige Warnung veröffentlicht. Der wichtigste Punkt ist die Herabsetzung der Umsatzprognose für das zurückliegende Weihnachtsquartal, in dem Apple immer mit Abstand das stärkste Geschäft macht. Bislang lagen die Prognosen von Apple zwischen 89-93 Milliarden Dollar. Marktprognosen lagen bislang bei 91 Milliarden Dollar. Apple senkt nun die eigene Erwartung auf nur noch 84 Milliarden Dollar. Das ist heftig.
In erster Linie macht Apple das schwache Geschäft in China dafür verantwortlich. Der Handelskrieg, die Boykott-Kampagnen in China gegen US-Produkte und die immer weiter gestiegenen iPhone-Preise dürften in China wohl als Kombination verheerend gewirkt haben. Und dieser Trend dürfte im aktuellen Quartal weiterlaufen, wie man vermuten darf.
Wichtig: Apple hatte schon vor Monaten angekündigt, dass man ab dem Weihnachtsquartal keine Daten mehr zu den verkauften iPhone-Stückzahlen veröffentlichen werde in seinen Quartalsberichten. Also kann man diese eigentlich wichtigste aller Kennzahlen nicht mehr exakt mit den Vorquartalen vergleichen. Man muss dann Mischkalkulationen machen, welche Modelle wie teuer waren, und daraus grob schätzen, wie groß die Stückzahlen sein könnten. Die Maßnahmen an sich, keine Stückzahlen mehr veröffentlichten zu wollen, deutete bereits auf ein Ende des Apple-Booms hin – genau so wie zahlreiche Umsatzwarnungen von Zulieferern in den letzten Monaten.
Nun also hat Apple selbst die finale Bestätigung gegeben, dass die rosigen Zeiten endgültig vorbei sind. China ist aber nicht alleine schuld an der abgesenkten Prognose. Auch entwickelte Länder würden zeigen, dass nicht so viele Nutzer auf neue (teurere) Modelle umgestiegen seien wie erwartet. Da zeigt es sich, was wir schon mehrmals thematisiert hatten: Irgendwann kann es zum Problem werden, wenn ein Anbieter seine Preise ständig erhöht – und wenn nicht mehr genug Kunden diesen Wahnsinn mitmachen. Und genau dieser Punkt scheint nun erreicht zu sein.
Laut Apple sollen alle Produkte jenseits der iPhones bestens laufen und weiterhin gut zulegen beim Umsatz. Es ist also offenbar ein spezifisches iPhone-Problem. Die Apple-Aktie brach heute Nacht nachbörslich 7,5% ein, und wird aller Voraussicht nach heute Nachmittag bei ca 146 Dollar in den Handel gehen nach dem gestrigen offiziellen Schlusskurs von 157,92 Dollar. Seit Oktober hat die Aktie bereits massiv verloren von 233 Dollar im Top.
Die Apple-Aktie seit Mai 2018.
Hier auszugsweise im Wortlaut aus der Veröffentlichung von Apple:
iPhone
Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline. In fact, categories outside of iPhone (Services, Mac, iPad, Wearables/Home/Accessories) combined to grow almost 19 percent year-over-year.
While Greater China and other emerging markets accounted for the vast majority of the year-over-year iPhone revenue decline, in some developed markets, iPhone upgrades also were not as strong as we thought they would be. While macroeconomic challenges in some markets were a key contributor to this trend, we believe there are other factors broadly impacting our iPhone performance, including consumers adapting to a world with fewer carrier subsidies, US dollar strength-related price increases, and some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.
Many Positive Results in the December Quarter
While it’s disappointing to revise our guidance, our performance in many areas showed remarkable strength in spite of these challenges.
Our installed base of active devices hit a new all-time high—growing by more than 100 million units in 12 months. There are more Apple devices being used than ever before, and it’s a testament to the ongoing loyalty, satisfaction and engagement of our customers.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, revenue outside of our iPhone business grew by almost 19 percent year-over-year, including all-time record revenue from Services, Wearables and Mac. Our non-iPhone businesses have less exposure to emerging markets, and the vast majority of Services revenue is related to the size of the installed base, not current period sales.
Services generated over $10.8 billion in revenue during the quarter, growing to a new quarterly record in every geographic segment, and we are on track to achieve our goal of doubling the size of this business from 2016 to 2020.
Wearables grew by almost 50 percent year-over-year, as Apple Watch and AirPods were wildly popular among holiday shoppers; launches of MacBook Air and Mac mini powered the Mac to year-over-year revenue growth and the launch of the new iPad Pro drove iPad to year-over-year double-digit revenue growth.
We also expect to set all-time revenue records in several developed countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Korea. And, while we saw challenges in some emerging markets, others set records, including Mexico, Poland, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Finally, we also expect to report a new all-time record for Apple’s earnings per share.
Looking Ahead
Our profitability and cash flow generation are strong, and we expect to exit the quarter with approximately $130 billion in net cash. As we have stated before, we plan to become net-cash neutral over time.
As we exit a challenging quarter, we are as confident as ever in the fundamental strength of our business. We manage Apple for the long term, and Apple has always used periods of adversity to re-examine our approach, to take advantage of our culture of flexibility, adaptability and creativity, and to emerge better as a result.
Most importantly, we are confident and excited about our pipeline of future products and services. Apple innovates like no other company on earth, and we are not taking our foot off the gas.
We can’t change macroeconomic conditions, but we are undertaking and accelerating other initiatives to improve our results. One such initiative is making it simple to trade in a phone in our stores, finance the purchase over time, and get help transferring data from the current to the new phone. This is not only great for the environment, it is great for the customer, as their existing phone acts as a subsidy for their new phone, and it is great for developers, as it can help grow our installed base.
This is one of a number of steps we are taking to respond. We can make these adjustments because Apple’s strength is in our resilience, the talent and creativity of our team, and the deeply held passion for the work we do every day.
Expectations are high for Apple because they should be. We are committed to exceeding those expectations every day.
That has always been the Apple way, and it always will be.
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