Kuo: iPhone 16 Pro early orders meet expectations but vanilla models see lackluster sales

Production of Apple iPhone 16 devices is on plan, revealed the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Assembly orders for all four phones remain basically unchanged, with only a negligible 3-5% reduction of component orders for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.

Demand for the base 16 models remains lackluster, while shipments of the 16 Pro models are comparable to the iPhone 15 Pro orders from last year.

The report revealed suppliers had been asked to continue producing both Pro models during China's National Day week-long holiday, meaning demand for the duo has generally met expectations for this year's phones. Still, Kuo pointed out that the current shipping times for the 16 Pro are shorter than those of the iPhone 15 Pro.

The market is bracing for the impact on US market demand and shipments in late October. That is when Apple is expected to push a software update with Apple Intelligence, which should improve sales. However, this remains a mostly American issue, as AI will not soon reach Europe or China.

The production estimate for iPhone 16 devices in Q4 2024 is 88-89 million units, which is slightly lower than last year's 90-91 million devices.