Apple's (AAPL) MacBook Could Make up for Slowing iPhone Sales in 2016

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) watchers have worried about growth in the company's key segment, the iPhone, as saturation begins to appear and updated features aren't convincing users to upgrade as often as they used to (not to mention most U.S. carriers asking subscribers to front the full cost of a new device now). But, one analyst sees growth in a different area: portable computers.

9to5mac cited KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in saying that revamped MacBooks could be a growth area for Apple as handset and tablet sales slow. News comes as the analyst doesn't expected the iPhone 5se (the rumored name for the smaller iPhone) or iPad Air 3 to move the needle, sees slowing iPhone 6S/6S+ sales, and isn't enthusiastic about the iPhone 7.

Kuo said, We see MacBook as a stronger candidate for becoming a theme given solid growth in the business segment, as well as a potential upgrade to hit the market in 1H16.

Kuo reaffirmed Q4 iPhone shipment at 77 million units and sees that dropping to 43 million units in Q1.

Shares of Apple are down 0.7 percent.

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