Apple Watch Interruption Could Fuel a Revenue Decline in the Important December Quarter

The sudden interruption in most Apple Watch sales during the all-important holiday shopping season could potentially fuel another revenue decline for the tech giant’s December quarter.

But that will depend upon how many consumers decide to rush out and quickly buy Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 models, before sales are halted in the coming days due to a patent dispute. Consumers can buy both product lines on Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) website until Thursday, Dec. 21, and in retail locations until Dec. 24.

So the question is whether a sudden run on sales in the last week of holiday shopping can offset potential lost sales. It is worth noting, though, that several large retailers, such as Best Buy Co (BBY), Target Corp. (TGT), Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), had already lowered the price of the base model of the Apple Watch Series 9 by $70, to $329 from $399, and some also cut the pricier Ultra 2 model to $750 from $799.

Last quarter, Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said overall revenue in the December quarter would be “similar” to a year ago, when Apple reported $117.1 billion in revenue, leaving the door open for flat or potentially lower revenue. After its earnings showed a fourth consecutive quarter of revenue declines, some analysts bemoaned the company’s massive size, noting that, at $89.5 billion in revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter, it was like a “massive battleship” that was “advancing only a little.”

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