Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone’s and iPad’s are showing weakening demand according to analysts at Citi. They issued a report to investors just hours ahead of the company’s next earnings report.
Citi analysts said they believe the next iPhone will be delayed by a month or two. They were previously expecting both the iPhone 5S and a low-cost iPhone to land on the market in late July, although they now believe the phones will launch in September or October. The analysts said they believe the delay is due to production problems in connection with the fingerprint authentication Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is including on the devices.
In addition, Citi analysts said their checks indicate that demand for both the iPhone and the iPad is still weak. They’re predicting total iPhone build plan for the March quarter to be 34 million units, including 24 million of the iPhone 5 and 10 million of the iPhone 4 and 4S. In the June quarter, they’re predicting a total iPhone build plan of 26 million units.
In terms of iPad’s, they’re predicting 19 million units, including 10 million iPad Minis and 7 million iPad’s, built in the March quarter and 15 million units to be built in the June quarter. They said their checks indicate that demand for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s tablet is also weak, although they don’t expect to see a production delay like they expect with the next iPhone. They believe the 10-inch iPad will land in September and the iPad Mini will be available in October.
As of the moment of this writing, shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were up 1.6 percent since opening bell.
