iPhone Q1 Shipments Fall Short Of Estimates

Apple’s Q1 iPhone shipments were estimated to be between 40 million and 45 million units, but they came in under that, according to reports.

The shipments totaled between 37 million and 42 million units. The estimate miscalculation was blamed on tepid demand for the company’s iPhone XS and XR devices.

Apple’s Q2 shipments are also expected to be down, at between 28 and 33 million units, which is down between 21 and 24 percent on the quarter. Apple is expected to report its earnings on April 30.

In other Apple news, the company is reportedly in talks with several companies about being suppliers for the next generation of self-driving sensors, as part of its autonomous vehicle efforts.

According to a report in Reuters, citing people familiar with the discussions, Apple is looking for suppliers that can improve lidar, a sensor that gives drivers a 3D view of the road. Apple wants the sensor to be smaller, cost less and be mass produced more easily than what is currently available. One person told the news outlet Apple is calling for a “revolutionary design.” The sources wouldn’t say which companies Apple is talking to, the report noted.

The talks are new evidence that Apple is taking the self-driving car market seriously, with a focus on Project Titan, its top-secret self-driving car project. It also implies the iPhone maker wants to play a role in all aspects of hardware to control self-driving cars. It is in a race with car makers as well as technology companies to find the technology that prevails. In recent months Apple has been making key hires, poaching engineers from Tesla and Google, and has increased road testing to get ahead of rivals.

According to the report, it’s still unclear if Apple is ultimately going to build its own car under Project Titan or if it plans to be a supplier to automobile manufacturers. One source told the news outlet the fact that Apple is looking for cheaper lidar sensors implies it wants to control the brains behind the car regardless of who makes the vehicle.