According to a report in Nikkei Asia Tuesday, Apple has upped iPhone assembly orders to as many as 96 million units in the first half of 2021, a year-over-year increase of nearly 30%. But, maybe not an increase in iPhone mini due to demand or relative lack thereof. For 2021, Apple has set a preliminary forecast of 230 million iPhones, an production increase of 20% versus 2019 and near its record production of 231.5 million iPhones in 2015 for the iPhone 6 super cycle spurred by Apple rather belatedly offering iPhones with larger displays.
Paul Ausick for 24/7 Wall St.:
The production forecast for the first half of the year includes iPhone 12, iPhone 11 and iPhone SE, according to Nikkei’s sources. One supplier told Nikkei that demand for the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max models were “especially stronger than we estimated.” Demand for the basic iPhone 12 is in line with the supplier’s own forecast, while demand for the iPhone 12 mini is “a bit sluggish.”
Demand for new smartphones is so strong that manufacturers face significant component shortages… In Apple’s case, its supply of the iPhone 12’s A14 chip appears to be solid, but one industry source told Nikkei that Apple is “still chasing other needed components.”
About 1 billion of this year’s production will be 4G-compatible phones, while IDC’s forecast for next year calls for production of around 825 million 4G phones and 450 million 5G phones. By 2023, IDC forecasts that 5G devices will account for more than 50% of all smartphones shipped.
MacDailyNews Take: All we really know if that demand is high for iPhone 12 models and that, of the four new devices, the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini is running “a bit sluggish” versus initial internal estimates. So, demand for iPhone 12 mini could be high, just not as high as for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
This is course raises a question we’ve asked before: What would the demand look like for an iPhone 12 Pro mini?