Apple (AAPL) shares edged modestly lower Wednesday ahead of the tech giant's hotly-anticipated product launch event later today at its corporate headquarters in California.
The event, cryptically dubbed 'Far Out' by Apple's marketing team, is scheduled for 10:00 am Pacific time at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino and is likely to include new versions of both its flagship iPhone and Apple Watch, alongside previously-announced operating system upgrades and the expansion of its homemade A15 chip.
Analysts expect Apple to unveil a 14th version of the iPhone, with upgraded camera capabilities, more storage and, in a nod to the 'Far Out' branding, satellite network connectivity. A new Apple Watch, Air Pods and potentially even the first series of virtual reality headsets could also be part of the traditional pre-holiday product launch.
"In addition to hardware specifications, we think the pricing of the iPhone 14 series will be an important factor for its sell-through," said KGI Securities analysts Christine Wang in Taiwan. "Given the strong US dollar this year (US Dollar Index has appreciated by around 20% since the iPhone 13 series launched last year), we expect discounts to retail prices in select countries."
Apple shares were marked 0.1% lower in early Wednesday trading to change hands at $154.48 each.
Apple has been preparing for ongoing iPhone demand heading into the back half of the calendar year, despite a pullback in global consumer sentiment and a cautious outlook from its main assembler Foxconn last month.
Foxconn said it sees current-quarter smartphone revenues to come in flat to last year, citing "geopolitics, inflationary pressure and the Covid pandemic", with support from solid demand in its cloud and networking products divisions.
Apple typically accounts for around half of Taiwan-based Foxconn's annual revenue.
Apple expects its assembler base to make 220 million iPhones this year -- on pace with 2021 levels -- and told investors in July that overall revenue growth in the current quarter would likely outpace gains over the three months ending in June.
That said, Apple declined to provide detailed September quarter revenue guidance following its better-than-expected third quarter earnings in July
Apple said solid China demand, as well as a muted supply chain hit, helped iPhone revenues rise 2.8% from last year to $40.67 billion over the June quarter, just ahead of the $40.5 billion Street forecast and just under half of its overall revenues.
Overall, Apple earned more than $19.44 billion for its fiscal third quarter, as revenues rose 2% from last year to $82.96 billion, just ahead of analysts' estimates of $82.88 billion.
