Level 3

Apple announced that they made a profit of $20bn last quarter, it is the largest profit ever recorded by any company. This is largely attributed to the new and expensive iPhone X, which was criticised for being $1000, a large increase over previous iPhones. Apple sold fewer iPhones last quarter than the same quarter the year before, it is believed that people don’t want to pay for the premium iPhone X and aren’t as interested in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which have a very similar design to prior models.

Although Apple sold fewer iPhones than previously, they made more money because of the higher price of the iPhone X. The iPhone X was also their most popular phone last quarter, despite only going on sale in November. It was consistently the number 1 selling iPhone since the first week it was launched.

Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones in the last 3 months of 2017. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sold less than the previous models because people either waited for the iPhone X or didn’t upgrade their phone at all. Expectations for the iPhone X were very high before it was announced and some pundits believe it didn’t live up to the hype.

Apple have been under pressure in recent years to achieve the same rate of growth that they have enjoyed in the past. The company has been faced with the problem of how to grow their profits as consistently as they have done previously, in order to meet investor expectations. Investors are happy with the increase in profits despite iPhone sales dropping.

However, there has been a lot of concern about the success of the iPhone X and Apple announced a weaker sales forecast than expected for the next few months. Investors have been anxious over whether or not it has been as successful as they had hoped. Recent speculation suggested that Apple reduced the number of iPhone X orders that they had placed with manufacturers.

The iPhone is still the most popular phone in the world and there are 1.3 billion iPhone users. The focus now is on whether or not Apple can continue to increase upon this number without saturating the market.

 

Difficult words

Quarter: One of four parts

Expensive: Costing a lot of money

Criticised: To find negative things about someone or something

Popular: Someone or something that is liked by many

Pundits: An expert in a particular area

Hype: Many people having high expectations for something E.G. A movie or phone

Consistently: The same thing happening over and over on a regular basis

Previous/Prior: Happening before a certain time

Investor: A person or organisation that spends money on something and expects to make a profit

Anxious: Feeling worried or nervous

Forecast: A prediction

Saturating: Selling too much of something, to the point where there is no longer a demand for it.

Speculation: A theory about something without any hard evidence supporting it

 

Activities

For listening practise, listen to the recorded article here:

British English:

American English:

Match the Synonym!

1. Quarter A. Find a fault
2. Expensive  B. 1/4
3. Criticised  C. Prediction
4. Popular  D. Expert
5. Forecast  E. invariably 
6. Consistently  F. Financier 
7. Pundit G. Costly
8. Investors  H. Worried
9. Anxious I.  Well liked

True or False?

1. Apple made $10bn last year. T / F

2. No one criticised the iPhone X.  T / F

3. Apple sold more phones but made less money. T / F

4. The iPhone X is their most popular phone. T / F

5. Two new iPhones were released last year. T / F

6. Apple now faces a problem with how to grow their profits consistently.  T / F

7. People didn’t wait to buy the iPhone X and just bought the iPhone 8. T / F

8. Investors are happy with the quarterly report. T / F

9. Over 1 billion people have iPhones. T / F

10. The future of the iPhone X looks strong. T / F

Unscramble the sentence!

1. made / last / profit / Apple / they / that / a / $20bn / of / announced / quarter

2. for / X / Expectations / was / iPhone / very / high / it / announced / before / the / were

3. with / in / sales / iPhone / are / increase / dropping. / happy / the / Investors / despite / profits

4. The / the / the / still / world / popular / iPhone / in / is / most / phone

5. X / quarter / their / also / iPhone / phone / The / popular / last / was / most

Listening and Vocabulary

Listen to the article and fill in the words OR practice vocabulary and fill in the words.

British English:

American English:

Consistently Growth Saturating
Investors Expensive Criticised
Anxious Expectations Quarter

Apple announced that they made a profit of $20bn last __________, it is the largest profit ever recorded by any company. This is largely attributed to the new and ___________ iPhone X, which was ___________ for being $1000, a large increase over previous iPhones. Apple sold fewer iPhones last quarter than the same quarter the year before, it is believed that people don’t want to pay for the premium iPhone X and aren’t as interested in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which have a very similar design to prior models.

Although Apple sold fewer iPhones than previously, they made more money because of the higher price of the iPhone X. The iPhone X was also their most popular phone last quarter, despite only going on sale in November. It was ____________ the number 1 selling iPhone since the first week it was launched.

Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones in the last 3 months of 2017. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sold less than the previous models because people either waited for the iPhone X or didn’t upgrade their phone at all. ____________ for the iPhone X were very high before it was announced and some pundits believe it didn’t live up to the hype.

Apple have been under pressure in recent years to achieve the same rate of ________ that they have enjoyed in the past. The company has been faced with the problem of how to grow their profits as consistently as they have done previously, in order to meet investor expectations. ___________ are happy with the increase in profits despite iPhone sales dropping.

However, there has been a lot of concern about the success of the iPhone X and Apple announced a weaker sales forecast than expected for the next few months. Investors have been __________ over whether or not it has been as successful as they had hoped. Recent speculation suggested that Apple reduced the number of iPhone X orders that they had placed with manufacturers.

The iPhone is still the most popular phone in the world and there are 1.3 billion iPhone users. The focus now is on whether or not Apple can continue to increase upon this number without ___________ the market.

Conversation Questions

Take turns speaking with a partner or try to answer on your own:

1. Did you find this article interesting? Why or why not?
2. Did you learn anything new from this article? If so, what?
3. What do you know about Apple?
4. What kind of phone do you have?
5. Are iPhones popular in your country?
6. How often do you change your phone?
7. What do you use your phone for the most?
8. What is your favourite phone maker? Why?
9. What do you think about the iPhone X costing $1,000?
10. What do you think phones will be like in 10 years?
11. At what age should someone get their first phone?
12. Are you addicted to your smartphone?
13. What is the best thing about your smartphone?
14. How many different phones have you owned?
15. What has been the best phone you’ve ever owned?
16. Do you think a phone is necessary in today’s society?
17. What would life be like if you didn’t have a phone?
18. Would you consider changing your brand of phone?
19. Do you think having a phone or a computer is more important?
20. What would you do if you were the CEO of Apple?