Apple’s shares declined greater than 2 percent briefly in afternoon trading on Friday (Sept. 23) on a report from market research firm GfK, which would only confirm it issued a research report but wouldn’t divulge what it said.
According to a report, the selloff in shares of Apple picked up on the report that reportedly raises concerns about sales of the iPhone 7, which Apple rolled out earlier in September. The findings relied on point-of-sale data in 17 countries and had to do with sales during the launch weekend of the devices. GfK confirmed the report but told CNBC that the contents are only for subscribers. A separate report highlighted by CNBC showed chip orders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will likely decline about 20 percent quarter over quarter in the first quarter of 2017.
Figuring out how well the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are doing has become a favorite guessing game for investors, Wall Street analysts, market research firms, tech bloggers and traders. With Apple mum on how sales were during its launch weekend, everybody has to rely on third-party data, which, at times, can be contradictory. Take the four major telecom carriers for starters. After launching aggressive promotions in which consumers can upgrade to a free iPhone 7, most of them talked about record preorders. The strong demand, which prompted T-Mobile this week to back its financial targets, has led some to speculate that the iPhone 7 is selling like gangbusters. But those high expectations are getting dampened by reports trickling out that the iPhone 7 may not be a huge hit for Apple. Apple has said it would not release first weekend sales — something it has done for all the past iterations of the iPhone — arguing sales are a result of supply and they already knew they would sell out.
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