Why Doug Kass, Marc Faber Remain Bearish on Apple

Kass Makes Call on Apple

Will earnings right the Apple ship? Trading tech and profiting from Apple's next move, with CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis and the Futures Now Traders, Rich Ilczyszyn at the CME and Anthony Grisanti at the Nymex.

Facing increased competition in the technology sector, it seems Apple is poised to report its first year-over-year decline in net income since 2003, Seabreeze Partners founder Douglas Kass told CNBC on Tuesday.

From the iPod to the iPhone and iPad, Apple released one "market-defining" product after another for years, but the technology company has grown so large that it's losing its "first-mover advantage" and its competitors are catching up, Kass said on CNBC's "Futures Now." The popularity of Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus 7 has crowded the tablet market. Apple's iPhone faces increased competition from Google's Android and Samsung's Galaxy operating systems.

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Apple's gross margin contraction is another concern, Kass said. The company has guided for significant gross margin declines due to high manufacturing costs. Analysts just can't seem to agree on what might happen to gross margins in the second half of the year, though, and that will be key for the company, he added. (Read More: Apple Earnings Will Be a Test)

Looking forward, Kass thinks Apple's stock could trade under $550 a share through June.

"I think that earnings estimates are going to be slashed and I think expectations for a margin recovery and higher [average selling price] is wrong footed," Kass said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we end up in their September 2013 year for earnings instead of being $47, to be closer to $40 and that will be a very big disappointment."

(Related: Apple Earnings Need to Overcome Technical Malaise)

Last week, Marc "Dr. Doom" Faber took a similar view on the troubled tech stock. The author and publisher of the "Gloom Boom And Doom" report said that while AAPL has outperformed the greater stock market over the last few months, he thinks it faces many headwinds, including troubling technical indicators.

"I wouldn't own Apple and I wouldn't buy it. I would be a seller of Apple on any rebound," Faber told CNBC's "Futures Now." "I think the stock still has significant downside risk, but I think other technology stocks also have significant downside risk."

Asked by CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis whether he'd rather own Apple or Google, Kass said he'd prefer to short, rather than own, either stock.