If you were hoping that a new iMac would launch today you’ll be disappointed, not only has super-leaker Jon Prosser said that the iMac won’t arrive until August, Apple will be busy right now preparing to announce its financial results for its coronavirus-hit quarter that ended on 30 June.
Expectations aren’t high – even with the disruption of coronavirus – the June quarter is usually the least good for Apple. Although, with revenue of $53.8 billion and a profit of $10 billion this time last year, you can’t say bad.
Even with the problems of the locked-down quarter Apple may still have seen decent iPhone sales – potentially even exceeding last year’s $30 billion – due to the new iPhone SE, which was the undisputed big hit during the period from early April to late June.
Apple may also have benefited somewhat from the Coronavirus lockdown due to the increased demand for home office and homeschooling equipment. And the company may go on to benefit from this effect in its back-to-school business.
What we’ll be able to learn from what Apple reports
Apple will likely emphasise the successes of its services division and its continued strong growth. We may find out more about what is coming to Apple TV, for example.
CEO Tim Cook may also mention the anti-competitive investigations of the US Congress – although he may choose not to.
We may be able to make some predictions about the current quarter – such as whether Apple intends to introduce a new iPhone in September, or if that launch will be pushed back to October (as predicted by Jon Prosser) and therefore into the following quarter.
However, since Apple is unlikely to provide any guidance for the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter (it didn’t do so for the third quarter) it may be impossible to draw any conclusions about what it in the pipeline.
Perhaps the best way to assess what might be coming in the next financial quarter is to look at Apple’s suppliers and their forecasts.
Chip maker Qualcomm while discussing its third quarter results ($845 million in profit with $4.893 billion in sales) suggested that the prospects for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year are bleak, despite the promise of the move to 5G.
Qualcomm, whose radio modems are installed in almost all smartphones, expects smartphone sales to decline by 15 percent compared to the previous year. The reason for the decline is partly the COVID-19 pandemic and partly a delay in the market launch of 5G smartphones.
Specifically – and of most interest to Apple watchers – Qualcomm is expecting “a partial impact from the delay of a global 5G flagship phone launch.” Many are interpreting this as being a delay to the launch of the iPhone 12.
Read more about what’s expected from the iPhone 12.
Original report from Macwelt, additional reporting and translation by Karen Haslam.
Via MACWORLD