What you need to know
- iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro pre-orders began on September 13th
- Analysts are reporting higher than expected numbers
- Chinese retailers are playing a strong role in the demand
Yesterday, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that iPhone 11 preorders were beating his expectations. Today, Reuters details that more analysts are reporting the same thing - and China may be the reason why.
On Saturday JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce site, said on its official Weibo account that day one preorders for iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro jumped 480% compared to last years' iPhone XR and iPhone XS. The top three preorders were for the Midnight Green iPhone Pro and the iPhone 11 in black and purple.
On Monday, Chinese media outlet Yicai reported first day preorders had increased 335% on Alibaba's Tmall platform when compared to last year's iPhone XR.
Instinet, a firm owned by Japanese bank Nomura, report that their analysis indicated higher shipments than last year.
"We are careful about extrapolating first weekend data, though it is fair to say it is ahead of last year's launches," Instinet analysts reported. "Should the early shipment time data hold and translate to unit volumes, Apple may be able to offset this year's average selling price reduction."
Ming Chi-Kuo has updated his estimations as a result of the performance, now predicting iPhone 11 shipments in 2019 to top 70-75 million units, an upgrade from his original 65-70 million.
The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max have a few days of preorders left before they officially go on sale on Friday, September 20th.
