Apple iPhone 17 demand stronger than iPhone 16, JPMorgan says

Highlights

Analysts at JP Morgan on Thursday said early iPhone 17 demand series may be stronger than for the iPhone 16 lineup during its launch week last year. The bank arrived at this conclusion by examining delivery lead times in the U.S., China, Germany, and the U.K.

In a JPMorgan iPhone 17 forecast, Apple iPhone 17 pre-orders lead times in the U.S., China, Germany, and the UK were “slightly ahead” of that for the iPhone 16. Strong order demand was being seen in particular for the base iPhone 17 and the newly introduced ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air, which analysts see as the direct successor to last year’s iPhone 16 Plus.

At this point, the numbers suggest that demand may be skewed toward standard models more than for the pricier Pro variants, although the analysts noted that this doesn’t necessarily mean that demand for the high-end models would be soft year over year. On the other hand, if true, it would mean robust demand for the base models.

iPhone 17 delivery lead times reflect the time it takes for a customer to receive a device after making an order for it. The longer the wait, the higher the demand. In the U.S., the largest market that accounts for about a third of iPhone shipments, lead times for the base iPhone 17 and the Air were at four and seven days, respectively, while lead times for the Pro and Pro Max were four and 21 days. In iPhone 17 vs iPhone 16 demand, the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus, had next to no wait times during the preorder week last year, while the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max were at six and 20 days, respectively.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) officially launched the iPhone 17 series last week, putting a big emphasis on the ultra-thin Air model, which it said is a direct response to the ultra-thin phones of rivals such as Samsung. The Apple iPhone 17 sales outlook, however, reportedly faces iPhone 17 shipping delays in China as regulators there are expected to object to the device using eSIM technology.