Apple CFO: iPhone sales are poor because it's too expensive

Yesterday, Apple's financial report showed that the company's past era of super-fast growth may be coming to an end. Apple's chief financial officer said yesterday that one of the factors affecting iPhone sales was Apple's high-price policy in response to exchange rate changes.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said at last night's earnings conference that Apple has raised the prices of its products in the international market to offset the impact of exchange rates on profits, but this has affected consumers' purchasing power of Apple.

Maestri said at the conference that the company has raised prices for some products in certain international markets in response to foreign exchange changes. This strategy helps protect Apple's net profit margin, but high prices will affect demand over time, which is a driving factor that will affect next quarter's revenue.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also said at the conference that the macroeconomic situation is not good. Apple's major markets are experiencing slowing economic growth, weak commodity prices and currency depreciation. These markets include Japan, Brazil, the European Union and Canada. Cook said that 66% of Apple's revenue comes from countries outside the United States, so exchange rate fluctuations have a major impact on Apple.

The US dollar has been appreciating. From the beginning of 2014 to December 2015, the US dollar index rose by 21.3%. Other currencies have shown a weak trend. Since the fourth quarter of 2014, the euro and the pound have both experienced double-digit depreciation, the Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar, and the Mexican peso have all fallen by more than 20%, and the Russian ruble has fallen by more than 50%. CNBC said that spending $100 on Apple products in 2014 is only equivalent to spending $85 today.

According to the latest data released by Kantar Worldwide, high prices have become Apple's disadvantage, and Apple's market share has been declining in major global markets. In the last quarter, Android's sales share in major global markets except China exceeded Apple.

According to Wall Street Journal, Apple's earnings report on Tuesday showed that the company's first-quarter earnings per share exceeded expectations, and net profit increased by 1.9% to $18.36 billion. However, revenue and iPhone sales fell short of expectations. iPhone sales increased by only 0.4%, the lowest since its launch in 2007. Apple expects its second-quarter revenue to decline for the first time in 15 years, down 11% year-on-year.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the iPhone is the core "engine" of Apple, and other products are difficult to take on the responsibility of supporting the company's profits. As of the last fiscal quarter, iPad sales have declined for two consecutive years. Mac computers, which have performed well in recent years, also had poor sales and experienced a decline in the last fiscal quarter.

After the financial report was released yesterday, Apple’s stock price rose first and then gave up the gains and turned to decline.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.