The iPhone 16 series pre-order began last Friday and according to an analyst, Ming Chi-Kuo, interest shown in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have decreased and possibly for the first time, more buyers are interested in the iPhone 16 Plus. Here's a breakdown of what's happening.
As seen in the table below, the first weekend pre-order sales show a solid start for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with 17.1 and 9.8 million units, respectively. Despite that, the Year-on-Year data compared to the predecessors have dropped significantly (-16% and -27%, respectively), while the iPhone 16 Plus has gained a strong 48% improvement this year.
According to Kuo, it is possible that the lack of Apple Intelligence features at launch is one of the key factors contributing to the lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 Pro models. Competition in China could also make it harder for iPhone demand but Kuo believes that it could turn around by the fourth quarter of this year if Apple releases the full Apple Intelligence experience during the 11.11 and year-end sales.
Other notable data includes the much faster delivery times compared with the predecessors of the iPhone 16 Pro models. On top of that, Apple increased the shipments for the same models significantly due to the improved tetraprism camera that was introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models, while dropping the iPhone 16 Plus shipments by -28%. This is due to the sales demand for the iPhone 15 series last year, whereby buyers didn't show interest in the iPhone 15 Plus.
While the figures in the table are just based on estimation, these data are based on each iPhone 16 model's delivery time and production plans for that period. The average delivery time can also be found on Apple's official websites across the globe, 48 hours later after the pre-orders launched.
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