What you need to know
- iPhones sales slowed down in China during the month of August.
- JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee says that the slowdown is due to customers waiting for the iPhone 13.
It looks like the iPhone 12 couldn't keep up its winning streak in August.
In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee found that iPhone sales slowed down in the month of August. According to Chatterjee, it appears that many customers in China had started to hold off on purchasing a new phone with the promise of the iPhone 13 lineup on the way.
The data, which was collected from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), showed 1.5 million smartphone shipments in that month, down from a usual average of 2.5 million. That equates out to a drop of 46%, but the analyst says that it has more to do with customers waiting on the new iPhones rather than something to be alarmed about.
"We believe the slowdown in August indicates that consumers have deferred purchases in wait for the iPhone 13 launch, which would corroborate with the strong order numbers being ... reported in China," Chatterjee writes.
Chatterjee goes on to say that, if the drop in August is due to customers delaying their purchase, Apple should experience strong demand for the iPhone 13 lineup when it launches this Friday.
"While August sales appear to be weak in anticipation of the September launch, we expect the deferral of purchases to the new iPhone has been met by strong early demand in the region, led in part by better pricing from Apple," Chatterjee writes.
The iPhone 13 lineup will officially launch online and in stores on Friday, September 24. The 9th generation iPad and 6th generation iPad mini will also launch alongside the new iPhones.
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