“Shares of Apple traded higher in premarket trading Monday on speculation of strong demand for the iPhone X, which the company began taking preorders for on Friday,” Thomas Franck reports for CNBC.
“A deluge of orders for the company’s new luxury phone has already pushed shipment times into December, according to analyst reports from both Drexel Hamilton and Nomura,” Franck reports. “‘We are encouraged that shipping lead times have held steady at 5-6 weeks because these pre-orders can be recognized as shipments in the December quarter,’ wrote Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White on Monday. ‘Apple is taking the iPhone franchise to a whole new level with the iPhone X, pushing the company deep into the ultra-luxury smartphone market.'”
“While the iPhone X is set for release on Nov. 3, Apple allows customers to pre-order phones last Friday. While swells of pre-orders usually result in longer shipment times, analysts are finding that demand for the iPhone X is exceptional,” Franck reports. “‘We observed shipment times for the iPhone X tick up to 5-6 weeks within minutes of Apple opening pre-orders, where they have held over the weekend,’ wrote Nomura analyst Jeffrey Kvaal in a note to clients. ‘This is ahead of the 2-3 weeks during the iPhone 7 Plus launch and the 2-4 weeks during the iPhone 6 and 6s launch.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: When you do not know the initial supply total or whether Apple is simply leaving their estimates at “5-6 weeks” so as to not overly dishearten those who’d like to preorder, you know pretty much nothing.
Regardless, the conclusion is the same: iPhone X is a seminal iPhone, highly sought after, and supply will not come close to satisfying demand for many months.