Since its original iPhone was released nearly 10 years ago in June 2007, Apple's flagship smartphones haven't posted an annual decline.
Well, that status could be in jeopardy now. That's because, Reuters is reporting that since Apple's main Asian suppliers are projecting revenues and orders to slide this quarter that iPhone sales are almost destined to dip and suffer its first annual sales decline since 2007.
Why? Well, the companies feel that Apple's innovation has slowed down with its past couple of iPhone models and that they're doing what everyone else in the smartphones space is doing.
The companies — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which makes some of the chips in the iPhones, and Largan Precision Co Ltd, a smartphone camera lens manufacturer — are projecting slumping sales numbers.
In particular, TSMC has predicted a drop of up to 11 percent for its year-on-year first-quarter revenues.
That should affect Apple, which is scheduled to report its December-quarter results Tuesday, according to Reuters.
"Visibility is only a month at a time and demand is quite weak," Largan Precision chief executive Adam Lin told Reuters about his company's overall state with the iPhones.
Another supplier told the news agency that Apple went from giving them three months advance notice on orders to only one month, creating more stress.
"We have to be very flexible in terms of capacity," said an exec dealing with Apple that chose to remain anonymous.
If this pans out and Apple reports an annual decline for its iPhones, how will it rebound with these key suppliers overseas?
