Apple Asian suppliers skittish as markets brace for weak iPhone sales, AI news

Investing.com-- Shares of Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Asian suppliers fell on Thursday as markets braced for more signs of a decline in iPhone sales, while any more news on artificial intelligence adoption by the tech giant remained in focus. 

Taiwan’s TSMC (TW:2330) and Hon Hai Precision Industry (TW:2317) (Foxconn), which are two of Apple’s biggest Asian suppliers, sank 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively. In Hong Kong, AAC Technologies (HK:2018), which supplies audio equipment to Apple, fell as much as 2.2%. 

On the other hand, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930), which is a major competitor to Apple but also supplies it with display and storage technology, rose 1%. LG Innotek Co Ltd (KS:011070), another South Korean Apple supplier, added 1.4%. 

Apple is set to report its March-quarter earnings after the U.S. market close on Thursday, and is expected to clock a steep revenue decline, amid steadily slowing sales of its flagship iPhone. 

The firm is expected to clock earnings per share of $1.5, flat from the previous year, on a revenue of $90.32 billion, against a revenue of $94.8 billion last year, according to Investing.com estimates. 

Weaker earnings, particularly from iPhone sales, are expected amid softening demand in major market China, while competition from local players Xiaomi (OTC:XIACF) Corp (HK:1810) and a resurgent Huawei is also expected to have weighed. 

A report in April showed that Apple had lost its spot as the best-selling smartphone maker to Samsung in the first quarter of 2024. 

The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to announce new AI features to help revive sales of the iPhone, given that several of its competitors have already rolled out AI integrations for their flagship devices.

The company is reportedly in talks with OpenAI and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to add generative AI features for the iPhone. While the features are expected to be revealed at its annual developer conference in June, the firm is expected to offer some cues on its plans on Thursday. 

Apple’s shares fell 0.6% on Wednesday and were down nearly 9% so far in 2024. The losses saw Apple lose its place as the world’s most valuable listed company to MSFT.