Apple reports its fiscal Q3 (calendar Q2) earnings tomorrow, and we already know the key numbers analysts are expecting to hear in terms of iPhone sales and total revenue. The Wall Street consensus is that the company will report iPhone sales up 2.4% year-on-year, with earnings somewhere in the middle of Apple’s guidance.
But alongside those metrics, analysts will be paying close attention to lower-profile numbers, alongside Apple’s commentary, to see what clues it holds for the future …
Business Insider cited a couple of analysts pointing to the increasingly important Services business.
Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty thinks Services may have grown as much as 32% year-on-year, a number significantly higher than the consensus.
On China, supply chain rumors seem to point to slowing growth, with analysts waiting to find out whether Apple really is having as much trouble from flagship Android smartphones as those reports suggest.
But one number that may not reveal too much is Apple’s guidance for the September quarter. Because it only includes around a week of new iPhone sales, and because the LCD model is rumored to have been delayed into October, forecast revenue may not be the best indicator of Apple’s expectations from the 2018 iPhone line-up.
Some of the things analysts would like to hear more about from Apple include …
Augmented reality
There has been long-standing speculation about Apple making some kind of smart glasses product, but some analysts think this isn’t key.
Privacy
As well as a core value for Apple, the steps it takes to protect customer data are believed to have increasing financial value in light of the Facebook scandal and the media attention that has generated.
US trade war
Cook’s attempts to dissuade the Trump administration from starting a trade war with China have not been notably successful, and analysts will want to hear Apple’s take on the likely impact, especially on margins or product prices.
Siri
Siri is widely considered to be the dumbest of the main intelligent assistants, in significant part due to Apple’s strong stance on privacy, minimizing its use of customer data. But does Apple have any plans to play catch-up?
iPhone replacement rates
Will Apple reveal any numbers on iPhone upgrade cycles? The average time consumers keep an iPhone is now some 2.5 years, with some speculating that it could climb even higher.
We’ll of course bring you full coverage of both the numbers and the earnings call tomorrow.
