4hw.com.cn: on April 25, according to foreign media reports, disappointing performance expectations from key iPhone suppliers raised concerns about Apple's stock and may herald the end of the tech share rally. Apple's share price fell 7.1% in the three trading days ended Monday (22 local time), which wiped out $63.9 billion of its market value. Apple's shares fell on Thursday morning after TSM, the chip maker, released weaker than expected results.
TSMC is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer and Apple's most important chip partner. The company said it expects revenue of $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion in the second quarter, compared with Wall Street's estimate of $8.8 billion. The company blamed its forecast on 'weak demand' in the mobile industry.
Daniel ives, an analyst at GBH insights, wrote in a report to customers: 'as apple enters the much anticipated second quarter of fy18, Wall Street has fallen into & lsquo; full panic mode & rsquo;, as its Asian supply chain shows that iPhone shipments in June were far below expectations. '
According to a senior industry analyst, TSMC's poor performance is expected to be a precursor to the decline of the chip industry and the stock market.
Fred Hickey, editor of high tech strategy, wrote on social media: 'TSMC's warning may pose a threat to the semiconductor (SOx) industry. Sox is the leading indicator of the entire stock market, which has been solid (relatively strong) for the past two years. '
Not long ago, a top wall street company slashed its iPhone sales forecast. The day after TSMC's warning, Morgan Stanley cut its iPhone sales for the June quarter from 40.5 million to 34 million.
Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, wrote: 'we are cautious about Apple's earnings report due on May 1 because we believe consensus expectations for the June quarter need to be lowered. Apple's return on capital announcement may be equivalent to & lsquo; selling News & rsquo; type events, especially when the expected forecast is substantially lowered. '