Apple’s share price has taken a battering in the past six months, with more than $220 billion slashed from the company’s value as analysts look towards an era of smartphone saturation.

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty recently predicted that 2016 would be first time that iPhone sales would shrink, dropping by up to three per cent.

Given the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus sold 13 million in their opening weekend, a jump from the 10 million sales for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the previous year, a decline of that scale would be a massive turnaround. However the Morgan Stanley grim forecast was matched by other analysts, including Pacific Crest and KGI Securities.

Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jack Daw Research, was more positive about the iPhone’s future predicting that Apple would continue to grow sales but was pessimistic about the iPad, with the tablet market for all companies struggling as people fail to see compelling reasons to upgrade from their first tablet.

The problem for the year ahead for Apple was that in 2015 it was on the crest of a wave.

After years of rumours it launched its first wearable product, the Apple Watch, leapfrogging Samsung, Sony and others to become the dominant player.

IDC estimates that Apple will ship 21.3 million smartwatches this year. An analysis of the Apple figures suggests the Apple watch added US$1.7 billion to the coffers in just six months.