No Apple iPhone SE sales spike according to Far Eastern chip orders

Ho-hum Apple launch fails to reignite demand for Apple smartphones

Chip orders from Apple remain down in the second quarter, despite the launch of the new Apple iPhone SE, according to industry sources cited by Taipei-based Digitimes, and the £500 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

Overall chip orders will only be slightly up on the first quarter, with electronics companies in Apple's supply chain in the Far East suggesting that sales of the latest Apple devices have been "disappointing", with the initial flurry of excitement over the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus when they were launched in September quickly petering out.

"Chip shipments for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus for the second quarter of 2016 will likely be halved from those shipped in the first quarter," sources told Digitimes.

It continued: "Shipments for the new iPhone SE will be unable to offset the fall in shipments for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices in the second quarter... The shipment target for the SE in the second quarter is four to five million units."

Instead, electronics components suppliers in the Far East are looking towards Apple's next big launch event in the autumn, when it is expected to unveil a genuinely new iPhone, as well as next-generation iPads, MacBooks and iMac products.

Sales of the the iPad, in particular, have fallen sharply over the past two years after peaking in Apple's 2014 fiscal first quarter - the quarter leading up to Christmas 2013. In that quarter, some 26.04 million iPads were sold, a figure that declined almost 40 per cent to 16.12 million in the run-up to Christmas 2015.

Sales of iPhones have also started to plateau as the smartphone market reaches saturation point, although MacBook and iMac sales have outperformed a largely moribund PC and laptop market.