Expert Says Apple Glasses To Cause Decline In iPhone Sales

According to Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster, Apple Glasses will launch by 2020 and will eventually cause sales of iPhones to decline.

CNBC news reports that while Apple hasn’t even confirmed it’s working on augmented reality glasses, Munster believes Apple Glasses will become a reality by 2020 and will be an AR wearable that allows users to view digital content on top of the real world — including information that users currently rely on iPhones to provide.

With that in mind, Munster believes that iPhone growth will peak in fiscal 2019 before beginning a slow decline with the introduction of Apple’s glasses, which could offer augmented reality features that are redundant on an iPhone, allowing users to interact with apps right on their faces without having to pull out their phones.

“We expect iPhone revenue to grow at 15 percent in FY18 (essentially the next iPhone cycle) and account for 64 percent of revenue,” Munster said. “We believe tough comps after the next iPhone cycle will have a negative impact on iPhone growth in FY19, and in FY20, we believe Apple Glasses will start to impact iPhone sales.”

Gene Munster said he expects iPhone revenues to begin to sink by about 3 to 4 percent year on year between 2020 and 2022, with unit sales falling up to 2 percent due to adoption of the AR wearable.

“In 10 years, we expect the iPhone will be around, but be a much smaller part of Apple’s business, as Apple Glasses slowly gain market adoption,” he said.