KGI's Kuo: Apple iPhone SE Sales Worse Than Expected On Opening Weekend

Is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) trying to mask poor opening weekend sales for its latest iPhone SE by not announcing sales figures?

Apple traditionally announced opening weekend sales for its prior iPhone devices. However, the company has remained silent on Monday - prompting some analysts to speculate that sales were worse than expected.

According to Mac Rumors, KGI Securities' analyst Ming-Chi Kuo commented in a research note that iPhone SE sales "has been significantly lower than that of past new models" since its launch on March 31. The analyst cited the poor sales to poor demand for smaller-size smartphones and the fact that the iPhone SE offers no significant upgrades from prior models.

"We believe this is due in part to lackluster demand for smaller-size smartphones and, more importantly, that the product itself offers no significant upgrades to form factor or hardware specs," Kuo added.

However, Apple may be looking towards emerging markets, such as China, India and Pakistan in its new device given the lower starting price.

Mac Rumors also cited a report from analytics firm Localytics as the firm estimates the iPhone SE "managed to grab only 0.1 percent of the iPhone market" during the first weekend of sales.

Despite the report, shares of Apple were trading higher by more than 1 percent at $111.21 late Monday morning.