An early evidence of strong demand for the firm, as it began taking pre-orders on Friday, was that buyers of Apple’s new iPhone 15 Pro Max in some countries, including China, Japan, and the United States, may have to wait until November to obtain the smartphone. This was an early indication that demand was high for the company as it began taking pre-orders.
The indicators suggest that some worries regarding demand for Apple’s (AAPL.O) flagship handset will likely be eased. This comes after a decline in sales of iPhones during the June quarter due to a drop in the worldwide smartphone industry.
The four to five-week wait period for the Pro Max in China should help alleviate fears of a financial impact in Apple’s third-largest market despite increasing competition from Huawei (HWT.UL) and Beijing’s widening bans on iPhone usage by government officials. Beijing has been cracking down on iPhone use by government employees in recent months.
According to the information on the Apple website, the wait time for the iPhone 15 Pro in China is between two and three weeks. It stated that it might supply the iPhone 15 on September 22, the same day it would be available for retailer purchase.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max, the most costly model in the iPhone 15 model line-up unveiled last week, will not be available to purchasers in the United States, the company’s largest market, for at least six to seven weeks after it goes on sale. In Japan, the wait time for the model is between five and six weeks.
However, the wait time for the Pro model is shorter, with only two to three weeks for the 128 GB version in the United States and Japan. This is similar to the situation in China.
Some experts attributed the lengthy wait period to the reduced initial supply of Pro Max due to Apple’s difficulties securing the screens used in the model with thinner bezels than prior iPhones. Apple experienced challenges securing supplies of the displays used in the model with thinner bezels than previous iPhones.
Nabila Popal, research director for the worldwide tracker group at IDC, stated that these problems have been fixed since they were originally identified.
“We expect Apple to get into full gear by the time the holiday season rolls around, with shipments highly skewing towards the Pro Max model,” which “should give Apple a nice bump in its average-selling price.”
STRONG ORDERS FROM CHINA
According to reports from local Chinese media outlets, the high-end iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models were completely sold out on the Apple shop on the Tmall marketplace operated by Alibaba within one minute of being on sale.
More than 3.4 million reservations were placed in total for the four different iPhone 15 models on JD.com, one of Apple’s largest sales channels in China. These reservations were made in the days leading up to the e-commerce platform allowing orders on Friday evening.
Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, stated, “Since the decline of Huawei, the iPhone has been able to attract a massive number of consumers in the segment that is more than $600.”
“The new iPhone 15 series, especially the Pro series, will be a good choice for the installed base who are using iPhone 11/12 and looking for an update replacement,” said Lam, adding that Huawei’s Mate 60 series will be a challenge to the iPhone. “The new iPhone 15 series, especially the Pro series, will be a good choice for the installed base who are using iPhone 11/12 and looking for an update replacement.”
Late last month, Huawei released a new smartphone with a cutting-edge chip. According to industry observers, this might be the beginning of a return for the Chinese technology company, which was once the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world but had its business severely damaged by export curbs imposed by the United States.
This week, state media claimed that better-than-expected sales had persuaded Huawei to lift its shipment target for its Mate 60 series by 20%. Additionally, Huawei increased its prediction for total new smartphone shipments in 2023 to at least 40 million units.
The debut of the Huawei Mate 60 was unique in that Huawei did not engage in any form of pre-marketing or host a flashy event to celebrate the launch. The event, which will take place on September 25 and be hosted by the corporation, is where the new smartphone will likely be discussed.
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