A few days ago, a research report from Bloomberg claimed that the iPhone 15 isn’t selling as well as the iPhone 14. Now, Jeff Pu, an analyst at Haitong International Securities, says the same thing about the sales of the iPhone 15 (via 9to5Google), suggesting that Apple might be in trouble. Along with it, Jeff has shed some light on the specifications of the iPhone 16 models, especially on the chipsets the upcoming smartphones from Apple are going to rock, and the company's sales expectation for the Vision Pro.
Demand for iPhone 15 is lower than iPhone 14
In a note to investors, Jeff says that the demand for the iPhone 15 at the moment isn’t as good as the demand for the iPhone 14 in the same period last year. According to him, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has the highest demand among all the phones in the lineup, followed by the iPhone 15 Pro. The demand for the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus is reportedly weak. The analyst also points out that less expensive models in the lineup are more immediately available compared to the expensive ones in most regions around the globe.
Reportedly, the sales of iPhone 15 have dropped by 4.5% in China, which means that the company sold around 100 million fewer smartphones. According to various reports, the drop in sales is a direct result of low consumer demand and tough competition from Huawei in the country. Jeff says that the demand for the latest smartphones from Huawei is “much stronger than expected”. The sales of the iPhone 15 in the US, however, are strong, and Apple is also expecting increased interest in the lineup from India and Europe.
All iPhone 16 models will have Apple A18 series chipsets
Since 2021, Apple has been using a year-old chipset in the non-Pro iPhone models. So, people have been expecting that the iPhone 16 would come with this year’s chipset, the Apple A17 Pro. However, the upcoming phone is said to rock a non-Pro version of this chipset. Well, Jeff says that won’t be the case.
According to him, no iPhone 16 model would feature the Apple A17 SoC as the chipset is prone to overheating. That’s why, the company is developing A18 and A18 Pro. As you might have guessed, the former will make its way into the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus, whereas, the latter will come with the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Jeff says that these chipsets will be made on TSMC’s N3E process, which is expected to offer higher clock speeds and lower power consumption compared to A17 Pro’s N3B process.
Apple's Vision Pro sales might fall short of expectations
According to Jeff, his sources at Apple’s supply chain have revealed that the company is expecting to sell between 400,000 and 500,000 units of the Apple Vision Pro in 2024, which is reportedly far below what the brand earlier expected. On a related note, Apple is planning to launch a more affordable version of the Vision Pro, and it is expected to cost between $1,500 and $2,500.
