Apple started iPhone 15 pre-orders in over 40 countries last week and the smartphones are getting a lot of consumer attention like every year. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 15 Pro Max is stealing the spotlight while the vanilla models are barely on par with last year’s models. Kuo also predicted that while iPhone 15 pre-orders are strong, sales will be affected by Huawei’s return to the flagship market with its latest 5G phones.

In case you’re not aware, Huawei recently launched the Mate 60 series, which, against all odds, features a 5G Kirin 9000s chipset under the hood. The processor is reportedly manufactured by SMIC, Huawei’s own foundry. Huawei previously had to rely on Qualcomm’s 4G chipsets, which made its phones less desirable to consumers.

HUAWEI-MATE-60-pro
Huawei Mate 60 Pro

Kuo wrote in his blog that “Huawei’s comeback will inevitably impact the iPhone, but the extent of this impact remains to be seen”. He was careful to note that this impact won’t be seen on the iPhone 15 pre-orders in the Chinese market, since “those who pre-order iPhones are core users or Apple fans, not the target customers for the current Huawei phones”.

The Huawei Mate 60 and 60 Pro flagships also experienced significant demand in China, with reports suggesting long queues forming in front of retail stores. We expect the Huawei flagships could affect sales of the base iPhone 15 and even the Pro model in China, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max may be unaffected. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also notes that “demand for the iPhone 15 Pro is weaker than last year, with one possible reason being a shift of more premium users to the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year.”

Lastly, Kuo said he stands by his previous prediction that approximately 80 million units of the iPhone 15 will ship this year.


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