Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, January 14 (Xinhua)-- while retaining its advice to buy Apple stock, Rosenblatt Securities Research cut its target price by $24, citing iPhone production delays and "macro service headwinds."

In the report, the research institute surveyed more than 1000 American adults again to measure how many users have bought or are considering buying iPhone 14 series phones. After a similar survey of iPhone 14 Pro Max and Apple Watch Ultra in September 2022, the agency raised Apple's target price to $189.

However, its latest survey shows a decline in interest.

"our survey of more than 1000 US adults on December 20 found that 25 per cent of users planned or had purchased the iPhone 14 series, down from 29 per cent in a similar survey we conducted on September 20. 44 per cent of buyers / prospective buyers wanted the most expensive model, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, in September. But that fell to 34 per cent in December."

This appears to be a logical response to production restrictions at Foxconn's main iPhone plant, preventing Apple from delivering the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max ordered in the December quarter on Black Friday or later Christmas, the report said.

Rosenblatt Securities said that the production pressure on iPhone "has been resolved", so "a better trend is expected at a later stage."

CTOnews.com has learned that in addition to the findings of the iPhone 14 series of surveys, it has also responded to recent reports of slowing App Store growth.

"Apple disclosed a fee of $60 billion paid to developers in 2022, the same as in 2021, indicating a double-digit percentage decline in revenue in the December quarter, which may reflect weak game revenue."

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated his expectation that Apple's App Store would improve, even saying that "investors see this as an one-off quarter" and instead "focus on later periods."

Nonetheless, the agency has lowered its target price for Apple to $165 from $189. That is still up from $160 before it rose to $189 in September 2022.

While the usability challenge is certainly a holiday season problem, it's not clear why Rosenblatt believes the decline in interest three months after the release of the iPhone 14 Pro Max led to a drop in Apple's target price.

IPhone Pro and Pro Max models have traditionally led sales in the first two months after the new iPhone went on sale. The standard iPhone model will maintain sales for the rest of the year.

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