Early this month, the Apple iPhone 16 series—which consists of the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max—was introduced to the world. On September 20, the new iPhones will go on sale. Right now they are up for pre-orders. Demand for the iPhone 16 Pro is lower than anticipated, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with demand for the iPhone 16 Pro Max down 16% and for the iPhone 16 Pro down 27% from the previous year. But when compared to the iPhone 15 Plus from the previous year, pre-orders for the iPhone 16 Plus are up 48%.
Sales of the iPhone 16 series pre-orders are expected to reach 37 million units over the first weekend, down 12.7% YoY from the 15 series sales of the previous year, according to a report by Ming-Chi Kuo. With shorter delivery timeframes than the 15 Pro series, the iPhone 16 Pro series has seen lower-than-expected demand, which is the primary cause of this drop. First-weekend sales are down YoY, which is also indicative of the demand.
Also Read: Best camera phones in India under Rs 20,000
The iPhone 16 Pro Max‘s YoY growth is attributed to improved tetraprism camera production yields and Apple’s optimistic demand outlook. However, lower-than-expected demand is due to Apple Intelligence’s non-availability at launch and intense Chinese market competition, which continues to impact iPhone demand.
According to Ming, first-weekend sales of the iPhone 16 Plus and regular model rose year over year, but they had little effect on overall iPhone shipments. Although pre-order sales of the iPhone 16 Pro series saw a YoY dip, Apple is unlikely to make any changes to its production schedule very soon, he claims. Peak season marketing and Apple Intelligence can help the company increase sales; both strategies will be crucial in tracking shifts in the demand for iPhones, he suggested.
Also Read: Motorola Edge 50 Neo with 50-megapixel Sony LYTIA-700C camera launched in India
“Strategies such as adding a tetraprism camera to the 16 Pro and maintaining iPhone 16 series pricing have had a limited help to iPhone 16 first-weekend pre-order sales. Suppose Apple Intelligence releases in 4Q24 and peak season promotions have a limited effect on iPhone 16 shipments. In that case, I believe that Apple will implement more aggressive iPhone product strategies in 2025 to stimulate market demand,” he said.
