Apple
Apple cuts iPhone 16 order volume, hinting at lower demand
The non-Pro models saw orders being cut by 10 million, while iPhone 16 Pro sales go strong.
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Apple is only a week away from revealing its quarterly earnings and delivering a forecast for the holiday quarter.
However, before the Cupertino firm can share its reports, we already have a preview of what to expect, courtesy of Ming-Chi Kuo’s Medium post.
The revered Apple leaker has revealed that heading into the end of the year, Apple has slashed iPhone 16 orders by 10 million units, mostly impacting the non-pro models.
iPhone 16 demand may drop as the holiday inches closer
Kuo has shared on Medium,
iPhone 16 orders were cut by around 10M units for 4Q24–1H25, with most of the cuts affecting non-Pro models. As a result, iPhone 16 production for 2H24 is now estimated at 84 million units (down from around 88 million previously).
However, Kuo then clarified the matter through a post on X/Twitter stating that the 10 million unit cut is a sum of three-quarters from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first half of 2025.
Meanwhile, Kuo initially stated that the iPhone 16 sales appeared to be strong around the launch time and were meeting Apple’s expectations.
However, this cut indicates otherwise, forecasting that the demand for the latest iPhones is dwindling at the busiest time of the year.
Kuo also revealed that the primary reason for the low demand is the entry-level iPhone and 16 Plus models. The demand for these models is low even though Apple has launched stronger entry-level models than in previous years.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models, which is good news for Apple as customers are eyeing the more premium models.
It just seems that most customers aren’t compelled by this year’s base iPhone models. We think the reason is the absence of Apple Intelligence, which is still unavailable to the public.
What do you think about the weak demand for the iPhone 16 vanilla models? Would you prefer the Pro models this year too? Let’s chat below in the comments, or ping us on our Twitter or Facebook.