“Though Apple is still showing shipment delays on iPhone 7 Plus orders — and Jet Black iPhone 7 units — noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo infers early buzz around Apple’s latest flagship smartphone is flagging, and as such believes overall shipments have peaked,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“In a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo backs up his peak iPhone shipment prediction by pointing to immediate availability in many global markets,” Campbell reports. “In particular, the 4.7-inch iPhone 7, which accounts for a bulk of Apple’s annual iPhone sales, is for the most part in stock around the world.”
“Kuo says Apple is seeing lower than expected demand due to a lack of ‘spec surprises’ in the 4.7-inch model. Further, improved delivery estimates for 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus units, which quickly sold out after the phone’s September launch, suggests slowing demand,” Campbell reports. “Kuo said he expects iPhone suppliers to revise down shipment forecasts by 5 percent to 15 percent in November to December. The analyst updates his overall iPhone component shipment timeline to 80-85 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, down from a previous estimate of 85-90 million units.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in June 2015:
Ming-Chi Kuo is solid on predicting Apple product moves… but we’re not convinced on the accuracy his unit sales estimates, which require a completely different set of tools, methods, and talents than those used to, for example, discover Apple’s choice of case material or display sizes for the next-gen iPhone.
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The accuracy of Ming-Chi Kuo’s predictions regarding Apple’s choice of specs and materials is very solid, but his ability to forecast product unit sales remains in question. — MacDailyNews, October 3, 2016
