Does Apple Have A Demand Problem? Reports Of New Marketing Campaigns Has Some Concerned

Apple Inc. AAPL is reportedly shifting its marketing plans to help boost sales of its flagship iPhone product, according to Bloomberg.

What Happened

Sources close to the matter told Bloomberg Apple asked some of its marketing staff members to stop working on current projects and to focus instead on supporting sales of its newest handsets. The move may be seen as a response to poor initial sales of the iPhone XS and XR and some of the new marketing initiatives include offering consumers an "extra credit" of $25 to $100 to trade-in their older devices.

Why It's Important

At first glance, Apple's more aggressive credit on trade ins appears to be a "negative read" on iPhone demand, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster said in a blog post. But if Apple is facing a problem, it's unlikely an extra $25 to $100 in savings would be the solution.

In fact, the company may be testing the ultimate demand curve of iPhone demand to maximize revenue by implementing new pricing strategies. Apple is also making it easier for iPhone users to upgrade their older devices with the objective of having these users join the iPhone Upgrade Program.

What's Next

Apple's recent decision to no longer report hardware sale metrics now implies the next best read on iPhone sales is total revenue, Munster said. The Street's current estimate for the December-ending quarter of $91.9 billion remains figure that Munster says he is "comfortable" with.

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Photo courtesy of Apple.