Apple today welcomed customers to its stores around the world for the premiere of iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4. The new products were announced at Apple’s It’s Glowtime event earlier this month and are available for pre-order starting September 13th. The new iPhones will be the first Apple devices to feature Apple Intelligence, which will become available in October.
Image source: CNBC
Apple shares fell 3.6% earlier this week after analysts said demand for the new iPhone 16 was lower than expected. The volume of pre-orders for new Apple smartphones in the first week was 12% lower compared to the iPhone 15 in the same period last year. Analysts believe the main reason was the lack of access to the announced Apple Intelligence AI features at the launch of the iPhone 16.
Analysts at UBS today advised investors not to overreact to speculation about a possible decline in sales, since the data is collected including by analyzing wait times for new iPhone models, and last year they were longer due in part to supply chain disruptions.
Image source: Apple
They said supply chain disruptions last year “slightly skewed/extended last year’s data,” resulting in longer customer wait times for Pro models. Last year, some customers ordered an iPhone 15 Pro Max 41 days, compared to 26 days waiting for an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year.
«Ahead of the iPhone 16 announcement, our analysis showed that the lack of a cool app and perhaps a somewhat immature implementation of Apple Intelligence will reduce demand, according to UBS analysts. “While we continue to maintain that the iPhone/iOS feature set is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, we caution investors against overreacting to data that suggests somewhat sluggish demand to begin with.”
«However, data across all models and regions about a week after launch confirms our view, as margin data in the US and China is disappointing compared to last year,” the experts concluded.