Wainwright Marks Management - Strong Dollar Hurts Apple Sales

Apple has announced that it plans to reduce the prices of some models of its iPhones to contend with the strong US dollar which has hurt iPhone sales in recent months.

Over the past year, an almost 10 percent rise of the dollar against the yen has made Apple products much more expensive than rival brands in China causing iPhone sales to weaken.

This would mark only the second time in the history of the brand that Apple would reduce the price of its products, the first time being more than a decade ago when the company first launched.

Analysts at Wainwright Marks Management say Apple is particularly sensitive to the impact of the US Sino trade war. Being an American company which manufactures its products in China, Apple could feel the effects of any further escalation of the trade war more than most US companies.

Although the US and China agreed to press pause on further trade war escalations for 90 days in an effort to give the two countries time to resolve the conflict, Apple sales are already down in several countries including Turkey, Brazil and India where the local currency has depreciated against a stronger dollar.

With more than 60 percent of Apple's sales coming from outside the US, Wainwright Marks Management analysts say the company has decided to price new models of its iPhones more in line with the cost of earlier models at the time of their release in the hope that this will boost weakening sales figures.