Pressure on Apple to live up to hype

The iPhone X’s lush screen, facial-recognition skills and $US1,000 ($A1,400) price tag are breaking new ground in Apple’s marquee product line.

Now, the much-anticipated device is testing the patience of consumers and investors as demand outstrips suppliers’ capacity.

Apple said Thursday that iPhone sales rose 3 per cent in the July-September quarter, a period that saw the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus come out in the final weeks. Sales could have been higher if many customers hadn’t been waiting for the iPhone X, which comes out Friday.

Apple shipped 46.7 million iPhones during the period, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That’s up from 45.5 million at the same time last year after the iPhone 7 came out, but represents a step back from the same time in 2015, when Apple shipped 48 million iPhones during the quarter.

Revenue in that division surged 34 per cent to $US8.5 billion ($A11.9 billion) during the July-September period. All told, Apple earned $US10.7 billion ($A15.0 billion) on revenue of $US52.6 billion ($A73.6 billion), compared with a $US9 billion ($A13 billion) profit on revenue of $US46.9 billion ($A65.7 billion) a year earlier..

Nonetheless, the just-ended quarter largely became an afterthought once Apple decided to release the iPhone X six weeks after the iPhone 8.

“The Super Bowl for Apple is the iPhone X,” GBH analyst Daniel Ives said. “That is the potential game changer.”....read more on : PNG Technology News