Opening weekend for the iPhone XR wasn’t so glorious. Apple sold around 9 million units of its latest iPhone, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy analysts after it generated plenty of hype leading up to its global release.
The estimate comes from Rosenblatt Securities’ Jun Zhang, who originally projected there would be 10 million units pushed around the world; however, slowing demand crept up on the iPhone XR. Apple wasn’t able to secure as many pre-orders as it had hoped. Still, the iPhone XR outperformed the iPhone 8 in terms of pre-orders and opening weekend sales.
Zhang thinks there will be a reduction in iPhone XS and iPhone XR production as 2019 approaches. With the holidays around the corner, that’s quite surprising. Apple typically gets a surge in sales during November and December, but Zhang projects a total of 6 million units are off the table now.
Most of the production cuts are for the iPhone XR. Yet there shouldn’t be too much for Apple to worry about. Critics and consumers are reacting positively, and that should translate into healthy year-ending sales. Apple’s hardly in a tough position at the moment.
Analysts were already skeptical, as were suppliers. Multiple partners in Taiwan had expected to receive fewer orders due to demand falling off after Apple’s month-long gap between announcement and release.
When Apple’s Q4 2018 earnings report gets published early next year, don’t prepare for any alarming details. The iPhone XR didn’t get off to a great start, but it’s still going to be a hot-selling item for the Cupertino-based company in the coming months (and years).
