Citi analysts undertook to track the situation with the waiting times for the latest generation of Apple smartphones ordered in different countries in order to compare the results with observations last year, when the iPhone 15 family entered the market. In general, the picture turned out to be heterogeneous in geographical terms, but one way or another, deliveries of the iPhone 16 better cover the needs of the market than their predecessors at a comparable stage of the market path.
Basic models of the iPhone 16 family of smartphones, as noted by Atif Malik from Citi, over the past week of September 13 showed an increase in wait times by an average of a week in all countries where sales have already officially begun. The third-ranked iPhone 16 Pro model in the US, UK and India increased delivery waiting times by three to seven days on average, but in China the lead times were reduced by 12 days.
In the case of the flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max, the picture is even more heterogeneous. While in the US and UK waiting times remained at last year’s levels, in India they increased and in China they fell. It seems that the Chinese public as a whole is in no hurry to buy all models of Apple’s new family of smartphones. The effect of pent-up demand may appear later, when the company “brings” Apple Intelligence functions adapted to the Chinese market to the Chinese market, but for now Chinese customers do not have many incentives to purchase the latest iPhone models.
According to a Citi representative, base iPhone 16 models in general across Apple’s regions of presence are being sold at this stage in quantities comparable to last year, and more expensive smartphones in the family are available with shorter wait times. Seasonal trends in demand for iPhone in the case of the current generation of smartphones will be distorted by the cycles of launching Apple Intelligence functions into various markets, as the analyst summarizes.