A Skeptical Look At Apple

Apple Inc. AAPL's stock continues to trade near all-time highs after an impressive 17 percent gain since the start of 2017. However, not all of Wall Street are in the bull-camp.

OTR Global came out with a negative report on Apple Thursday, noting that Apple's prospects in the lucrative Chinese market is showing some concerning signs. Specifically, the firm believes that iPhone demand in China is decelerating as evidence by lower year-over-year sales among some key vendors.

OTR's Perspective

OTR added that Wall Street firms aren't paying enough attention to New Year sales in China and the fact that ongoing promotions for the older iPhone 6s is hurting sales of the newer iPhone 7.

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The report follows IDC's findings in early February that Apple's Chinese market share and shipment volume were lower on a year-over-year basis for the first time ever throughout 2016.

A Top Vendor

Meanwhile, Apple is now a top-three vendor for just three of the country's biggest 15 buyers as opposed to being a top-three vendor among six of the 13 biggest vendors a year ago. This may explain why iPhone sales are lower year-over-year among 10 of the biggest 15 vendors.

OTR also noted that Chinese New Year smartphone sell-through has been flat to down slightly on a year-over-year basis due to an overall market saturation.

Despite OTR's cautious tone, shares of Apple were trading lower by just 0.18 percent after Thursday's market open.