Apple shares slide as analysts spotlight sluggish iPhone 16 demand

Apple shares slid 3.6% in Monday morning buying and selling, after reviews that demand for the brand new iPhone 16 is decrease than anticipated — and down 12% 12 months over 12 months from the first-weekend gross sales of the iPhone 15 final 12 months, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a word.

“The important thing issue is the lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 Professional sequence,” Kuo wrote after compiling knowledge from Apple’s web sites on every iPhone 16 mannequin’s pre-order gross sales, common supply instances and shipments earlier than pre-order.

Kuo added that one of many “key components” of decrease demand is that the “main promoting level, Apple Intelligence, isn’t out there at launch alongside the iPhone 16 launch. Moreover, intense competitors within the Chinese language market continues to affect iPhone demand.”

Final Monday, Apple unveiled new versions of the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at an occasion at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. Pre-orders for the brand new iPhones started Friday and launch on Sept. 20, however the first Apple Intelligence features for iPhone 16 will not launch till subsequent month, in a beta model.

Analysts at Barclays, JPMorgan and Financial institution of America additionally wrote in investor notes that transport instances might translate to lighter demand for the latest iPhone Professional fashions, in comparison with final 12 months.

“Based mostly on our conversations with distributors and evaluation of pre-order figures on main Chinese language e-commerce websites, whole pre-order models had been down Y/Y inside the first couple of days, with a decrease professional mannequin combine,” Barclays analysts wrote in a word. “We heard that professional mannequin models had been down double digits on a Y/Y foundation, whereas base and plus fashions grew Y/Y.”

The Barclays analysts added that the rollout of Apple Intelligence within the Chinese language language “isn’t till CY2025, which can dampen early enthusiasm for IP16. Weak macro and competitors proceed to weigh on iPhone gross sales in China.” Additionally they wrote that Apple needed to depend on important reductions to assist China gross sales for the iPhone 15.

When monitoring key markets’ supply lead instances as a requirement indicator, the JPMorgan analysts wrote that “early lead-times are indicating demand on the iPhone 16 base fashions in-line to the iPhone 15 sequence throughout Week 1 (e.g., Pre-Order Week), whereas early demand indicators for Professional fashions are beginning off modestly softer relative to the iPhone 15 sequence.”

BofA analysts wrote that after monitoring iPhone ship dates on Apple’s personal web site and varied service web sites, ship time “for the iPhone 16 Professional and Professional Max fashions are prolonged, however considerably much less (on common) in comparison with final 12 months at this level within the pre-order cycle.”

They added that “although the extension of ship dates will be reflective of iPhone demand, different components equivalent to provide, stock, allocation and pricing might be impacting the ship dates.” The analysts additionally wrote that Apple lowered iPhone 16 costs in Australia and India.

The iPhone 16 Professional and the iPhone 16 Professional Max are Apple’s extra premium telephones which have nicer screens and cameras than the common fashions, beginning at $999 and $1,199, respectively.

The Professional fashions have the “thinnest borders on any Apple product,” Apple mentioned at its occasion final week, calling them “by far our greatest iPhone shows ever.” The titanium is almost half the burden of chrome steel and is “extra scratch resistant than different types of titanium others have used.”

The corporate additionally mentioned through the occasion the brand new iPhone 16 Professional Max has “one of the best iPhone battery life ever” however didn’t provide extra particulars.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.