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Apple's new CEO Ternus to face first earnings test as memory costs surge

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

During the upcoming earnings call, Ternus will address forecasts for the vital holiday quarter amid projected fourth-quarter net profit growth of roughly 6 percent, the weakest pace in six quarters. The company faces a slowdown in both iPhone sales and its services division, the latter of which is anticipated to expand at its slowest rate in over three years. Despite these headwinds, consumer interest remains robust for the $1,999 iPhone Duo, even as the new device encounters manufacturing scrutiny over display fold cracks that have prompted Apple to issue replacements.

Key points

  • Surging memory-chip costs are creating margin pressures that could result in the company'…: Surging memory-chip costs are creating margin pressures that could result in the company's slowest profit growth in six quarters.
  • Apple continues to prioritize user trust and privacy in its artificial intelligence strat…: Apple continues to prioritize user trust and privacy in its artificial intelligence strategy instead of matching the aggressive spending of rival tech giants.
  • Robust consumer demand for the foldable iPhone Duo is expected to outpace constrained sup…: Robust consumer demand for the foldable iPhone Duo is expected to outpace constrained supplies well into January despite early hardware defect reports.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Nov 2 : John Ternus will host his first earnings call as Apple's CEO on Monday, with investors looking to the company's forecast to determine whether a blitz of new products can help offset rising costs for memory chips.

Ternus, who took the reins from Tim Cook in September, has overseen the introduction of Apple's first foldable phone, smart home hub and Apple's first touch-screen laptops. All of those products began shipping during the company's current fiscal first quarter, amid what Cook had called a "100-year flood" of rising memory costs.

Apple will face scrutiny over three key issues: its crucial holiday-quarter outlook, Ternus' remarks on AI and the revamped Siri, and rising memory-chip costs that analysts expect to drag quarterly profit growth to its weakest in six quarters.

Apple has been trying to position its AI offerings differently than rivals such as Meta Platforms' Muse agent, which took App Store rankings by storm in recent weeks.

Rivals such as OpenAI, which Apple is suing over alleged trade-secret theft, are also developing devices aimed at displacing the iPhone as the…

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