А как обстоят дела у главного конкурента, американской корпорации Apple?
Согласно прогнозам аналитиков компании Bernstein, результаты разочаруют иныесторов.
Эксперты говорят, что Apple отчитается о выручке на уровне 47-49 миллиардов долларов, в то время как ожидалось, что показатель составит почти $52 миллиарда. Продажи смартфонов предположительно составят 38,8 миллионов единиц, тогда как ранние прогнозы указывали на 41 миллион, хотя и этот показатель был ниже предыдущих.
Многочисленные отраслевые источники указывают на слабые продажи iPhone X. Кроме того, отчётливо наблюдается увеличение цикла замены аппарата, когда пользователи мобильных устройств не видят оснований для ежегодной замены имеющегося на руках флагмана. На фоне столь нерадужных прогнозов акции Apple упали в цене на 4%.
The Investor: Samsung’s Q1 net profit soars on chips and smartphones
Samsung Electronics said on April 26 its first-quarter net profit advanced 52.11% from a year earlier, following improved returns from its crucial chip operations as well as smartphone sales.
Net profit reached 11.6 trillion won (US$10.7 billion) for the January-March period, compared with 7.6 trillion won posted a year earlier.
Operating profit reached a record-high of 15.6 trillion won, up 58.03% from the first three months of last year, the company said. It also moved up 3.27% from the previous record of 15.1 trillion won posted a quarter earlier.
Sales jumped 19.82% to 60.5 trillion won, compared with 50.5 trillion won in the same three-month period in 2017.
First-quarter operating profit came in line with the estimate of 15.6 trillion won forecast through a preliminary guidance report released earlier this month.
The crucial chip business saw its operating profit reach 11.55 trillion won, rising sharply from 6.31 trillion won posted a year earlier.
With sales of the chip segment reaching 20.78 trillion won, Samsung posted a record-high operating profit-to-sales ratio of 55.6% for the sector, indicating improvements in the sector‘s profitability.
CNBC: Analyst cuts profit forecasts for Apple due to ‘materially weaker’ iPhone demand
Apple's fiscal third-quarter financial results will significantly disappoint Wall Street expectations due to weak iPhone sales, according to a Bernstein analyst.
The firm predicts the smartphone maker will forecast revenue in the range of $47 billion to $49 billion for its June quarter versus the analyst average of $51.9 billion when it reports financial results Tuesday.
"Investors are squarely focused on the health of the iPhone business, as supply chain data increasingly points to weakness. Based on our detailed analysis of supply chain companies with historically high correlations to iPhone unit sales, we revise our iPhone unit estimates [lower]," analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note to clients Thursday.
Sacconaghi reduced his fiscal 2018 earnings per share estimate for Apple to $10.71 from $10.93 verus the Wall Street consensus of $11.43. He also lowered his iPhone forecast for the company's fiscal third quarter to 38.8 million units from 41 million units versus the 43 million units average estimate.
"We note that buyside expectations have come down considerably in recent weeks, and while such numbers would represent materially weaker than normal iPhone seasonality, they appear to be increasingly within the range of expected outcomes," he wrote.
As a result, he reiterated his market perform rating on Apple shares and his $170 price target.
"There have been a lot of data points out of Asia [citing TSMC] that iPhone is weak, particularly for the iPhone X," Sacconaghi said on CNBC's "Halftime Report" Thursday. "We think that people are replacing their phones less frequently. … Over multiple years that replacement cycle is likely to lengthen."
The company's shares dropped more than 4 percent over the past week. Investors grew worried as several Apple suppliers predicted a weak smartphone market.
