Apple: January 12, 2021

Updates

January 14, 2021: did anyone else catch this? Bloomberg: missing chips snarl car production at factories worldwide:

After first wiping out auto demand, the virus is now hindering parts supply: chips used in vehicles are harder to come by because semiconductor manufacturers allocated more capacity to meet soaring demand from consumer-electronics makers such as Apple Inc.

January 13, 2021: Now this: global iPhone shipments up 10% in 2020 compared to previous year. Apple bucked a trend as falling global smartphone shipments in 2020 by increasing its shipment rate by over 10% copared to the previous year. 

Global smartphone shipments suffered an overall 8.8% decline to 1.24 billion units last year, due in part to the crippling effects of the health crisis.

Despite that, however, worldwide shipments of 5G-enabled smartphones reached as high as 280-300 million units in 2020, up from the 20 million units shipped a year earlier, indicating a surge in demand for the faster data speed.

In the first quarter of 2020, global shipments "dove over 20% on year in the first quarter of 2020, fell by a double-digit rate in the second, and narrowed the decline to a single digit in the third, before staging a single-digit rebound in the fourth," according to the DigiTimes' figures.

Samsung and Huawei felt the impact worst over the course of the year, both seeing their shipments dip by a double-digit rate. Out of the top six smartphone brands in 2020, only Apple and Xiaomi managed to ramp up their shipments compared to 2019.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

 Original Post

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. 

The Street, four hours ago. Link here. 

From the linked Street article:

• evidence continues to mount that Apple likely had a killer fiscal first quarter (Oct - Dec 2020)
• Mac: unusually high demand throughout the pandemic year and holiday season should be no different
• if so, iPhone and Mac will deliver a 'one-two punch on earning day
• IDC says Apple shipments should be "on fire"
• Mac shipments skyrocketed, to the tune of nearly 50%
• Apple's market share increased to 8.0% from 6.8% in the previous holiday; no other manufacturer experienced growth at these levels
• Apple may have benefited from the introduction of the M1-equipped models (previously posted)
• again, no "whisper numbers"
  

Whisper numbers: no one seems willing to post whisper numbers. This is the best I've found:

Analysts will be keen to see if the quarter will beat the record-breaking 1Q20 quarter, which saw revenue of $91.8 billion stemming from extremely strong iPhone 11 sales. There is some uncertainty surrounding whether or not Apple will set another revenue record, given much of 2020 was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected both Apple's production and sales.

Flashback: 1Q20 -- AAPL: best quarter ever. Shares surge. One year ago: $4.99 / undiluted share. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Exceeded: iPhone 12 sales in China hit nearly 18 million units in 4Q20; exceeded all expectations: link here.

16% increase: Apple shipped 16% more PCs in 2020: link here.

Mad Mac! Mac shipments rise significantly inQ20 amid overall PC market growth: link here.  

To the best of my knowledge Apple never / rarely "misses" when earnings are announced.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.