Apple Downgrade at Citigroup

KK手记

Apple Downgrade at Citigroup Sends Asian Suppliers’ Shares Down
By Bloomberg News - Dec 16, 2012 8:27 PM PT

Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Asian suppliers fell after the iPhone maker was downgraded by Citigroup Inc. because a cut in orders to its vendors raised concerns about demand for the iPhone 5 model.

“We are turning cautious on Apple supply chain, as we believe we are at the peak of many product cycles,” Jeff Pu, a Taipei-based analyst at Fubon Financial Holding Co., wrote in a report today. “The most important message is ‘iPhone 5 is game over,’ as demand appears to be weaker than expected -- i.e., US peaking, China launch just so so.”

The iPhone, which debuted in 2007, is Apple’s biggest product by revenue. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317), the iPhone assembler, tumbled the most in more than seven months in Taipei trading, leading shares of speaker supplier AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. (2018), Flexium Interconnect Inc. (6269) and other vendors lower. Cupertino, California-based Apple, the world’s most-valuable company with a market capitalization of $480 billion, fell to the lowest level since Feb. 17 in Friday trading in New York.

The iPhone, which debuted in 2007, is Apple’s biggest product by revenue. It accounted for 51.42 percent of revenue in the year ended September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The prospect of weak iPhone 5 shipments creates near-term earnings downside for Apple’s supply chain, and the companies are likely to see further selling pressure in the near term, Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang wrote in a note dated Dec. 14.

dividend_growth

Citi这个分析师应该是个SB，要是Gene Munster不看好问题就比较严重了。