By Senad Karaahmetovic
Last week, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) presented the iPhone 14 lineup with unchanged pricing compared to iPhone 13.
iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected to arrive in stores on Friday while also arriving on the same day to customers who have managed to pre-order. The iPhone 14 Plus launches on Friday, October 7.
It appears that demand is very strong as delivery estimates are already slipping into October. A Wedbush analyst says demand is “robust” as it is slightly ahead of iPhone 13 and better than what he was expecting.
“This speaks to the underlying demand story that Apple anticipates for this next iPhone release with our estimates that 240 million of 1 billion iPhone users worldwide have not upgraded their phones in over 3.5 years,” he said in a client note.
A Credit Suisse analyst noted that initial data shows demand for the Pro and Pro Max is stronger than for iPhone 14.
“Within the first 30 minutes of pre-orders opening, 94 of the 160 Pro/Pro Max SKUs were delayed by at least 10 days, which compares to 70/160 iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max SKUs delayed by at least 12 days last year. We attribute the difference to stronger demand rather than supply,” she wrote in a client note.
Finally, a JPMorgan analyst reflected on Apple’s pricing strategy for the iPhone 14 lineup.
“Apple has opted for a favorable pricing strategy in China by raising prices in local currency less than depreciation in CNY over the last year, again setting up for a more favorable volume outlook. That said, pricing in European markets was raised by midteens, in line with FX changes, marking a steep increase relative to iPhone 13,” he wrote in a research note.