We’ve noted before that Apple tends to follow a pretty consistent trend: the company has a big iPhone event, and the stock price doesn’t really do all that much because everyone knows what to expect.
That was particularly true in today’s case, as we knew pretty much everything about both new iPhones — and it means that Apple was able to play out the story that it set up when it reported its last earnings report, keeping things about level for Wall Street and avoiding any huge fireworks. The stock is down just a tick, but that’s about it. The only critical variables were the final pricing and whether there were any delays, and it looks like the iPhone 8 will come out in time to fulfill the promise of its big upcoming quarter just in time.
The iPhone X, meanwhile, will come out in the fourth quarter. That’s Apple’s big holiday quarter where it rakes in most of its profits and tries to lock in as many new consumers as it can. We also more or less knew that Apple was going to slap a massive price tag on the phone, which will start at $999, and that the phone would likely take a while to spin up to full consumer demand. The company faced a huge amount of demand for the iPhone plus lines which took a while to catch up, and the iPhone X seems like an even more complex beast to get out the door.
But, again, the story played out more or less like we expected. Throughout the year, Apple has steadily marched forward as it makes its bid to become a $1 trillion company. It recently planted its checkpoint flag when it forecast a big third quarter, signaling that the new iPhone would come out on time and get consumers excited about the device. To be sure, there are some big upgrades in the iPhone 8, but for the company’s next act, everyone will be looking at what happens with the iPhone X.
Apple didn’t pull any surprises, and Wall Street isn’t going to have to make any major adjustments to its projections for the company — at least, not yet. There may be changes and new blips in the system as time goes on, but for now, all eyes once again turn to what happens with the sales of the iPhone 8. Then, Apple will make its push to hit that $1 trillion status as it tries to figure out what the next generation of the smartphone — with its new array of cameras, focus on augmented reality, and such — looks like.