With iPhone sales slowing, AAPL needs its ecosystem now more than ever
Apple Inc. (AAPL) hasn’t been a complete exception, although the tech behemoth has had far fewer problems than other American corporations. That was, anyway, until earlier this month when Chinese regulators forced the shutdown of Apple’s iBooks Store and iTunes Movies services.
For Apple, China is its second-largest market behind the U.S. With iPhone sales in the country beginning to slow, revenue from the region will become even more dependent on the iOS App Store. The future appeared bright, considering that “In the March quarter, revenues from the Chinese iOS App Store surpassed Japan for the first time — showing them on a course to eventually top the U.S.”
However, with this month’s moratorium on Apple’s sale of digital books and movies, some investors are concerned about not only the current quarter’s overall revenue expectations, but the stability of AAPL’s historically secure operations in China.
The question, then, is if the ban isn’t lifted any time soon, how much of a negative impact will that have on both revenue and the price of Apple stock?