14 DAY TRIAL // The iPhone X was sold out in just 10 minutes in the United States after Apple officially began taking pre-orders the last Friday, and many people believe that it’s all because of the constrained supply that the company managed to get ready for the launch.
And while Apple won’t provide first-weekend iPhone X sale statistics, analysts believe the device is selling strong, and the supply just couldn’t keep up with demand. GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives says Apple is likely to sell no less than 50 million iPhone X units this year alone, up from his previous forecast of 40 million, adding that the first weekend was a “stellar success” for the firm.
“With the official launch of iPhone X in Apple retail stores slated for this Friday, Nov. 3, we anticipate very high demand globally with limited supply of iPhone X on hand,” he was quoted as saying.
Record stock price
The evolution of Apple shares do seem to point to strong demand for the iPhone X. AAPL reached $166.72 on yesterday’s close. The record high comes after a substantial 2.5 percent drop recorded last week due to what was considered to be poor demand for the iPhone 8, a model that’s not as substantially overhauled as the iPhone X and which has been dramatically impacted by the release of the anniversary model.
But it’s also no secret that Apple has a hard time aligning production with demand. Pre-ordering an iPhone X today means customers get the device in December, as waiting times have been increased up to 6 weeks and it’s nearly impossible to secure a unit on November 3 launch day without getting it from an Apple Store.
Analysts expect Apple to resolve all production issues in November, and this should translate to more iPhone X units flooding the market in December and January. As a result, bigger sales should be recorded in early 2018, with Apple stock to continue growing to a level that could make it the first trillion-dollar company in the world.