Investment bank Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes that iPhone 13 orders are already about 20% ahead of Apple‘s earlier iPhone 12 lineup due to high volumes of pre-orders in China. He says that iPhone 13 demand looks “robust out of the gates,” as China approaches the 5 million or 6 million pre-orders mark. Despite supply chain issues, Apple could witness better results than iPhone 12 launch last year.
The analyst, in conversation with AppleInsider, also highlights that a major chunk of iPhone orders is skewing toward the premium models like the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, which will help Apple end up averaging higher ASP (average selling price). As a result of this, Apple may continue to maintain its lead with an even bigger margin this time. Ives also believes that luring financing options and aggressive trade-ins could also play a role in swaying iPhone owners who may be considering an upgrade.
Wedbush supply checks hint that iPhone 13 orders appear to be in the 90 million unit range which is higher than the 80 million units that we witnessed for iPhone 12. Apple may further set iPhone unit builds somewhere between 130-150 million if things continue to unfold the way it has so far. The iPhone 13 lineup is on an exponential trajectory and has already registered a 10% build increase YoY right away.
The analyst has a strong belief in his “super-cycle” thesis and that it will do well in 2022. According to this, an estimated 250 million out of 975 million iPhone devices are in line for an upgrade. Ives hasn’t altered his outperform rating for Apple and his 12-month price target of $185 which has been formulated based on a sum-of-the-part valuation on his Apple 2022 estimates.
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- Apple iPhone 13 series pre-orders exceed 5 million units in China on day one – Gizmochina
