Although the ‘Singles Day’ retail event saw improved iPhone XR sales, one research firm believes that this was only going to last for a brief period and that this run was not enough to make it revisit its sales forecast for the 2018 iPhones. The firm believes that the sell-through probably improved during the 11.11 sale because of discounts of up to 15 percent. The iPhone XR is the cheapest handset Apple has launched this year, and it sports nearly the same hardware as the more premium models.
Singles Day Success Was Not Enough to Justify the Current Production Targets of iPhone XR
Rosenblatt, the research firm in question, further said after a month of unit sales, Apple’s iPhone XR has reached the same level as the more expensive iPhone XS Max and has outpaced the iPhone XS in China. Despite these improvements, analyst Jun Zhang thinks that the production level of the iPhone XR is above the sell-through rates.
Related Foxconn Reportedly Planning to Reduce $2.9 Billion in Expenses for 2019 Due to Falling iPhone Demand
Rosenblatt had previously reduced its production estimate for the iPhone XR because of the weak initial demand. The research firm has cautioned Apple against its production target of 32 million iPhone XR in the fourth quarter of this year and believes that the production level should be brought down to nearly 28 million units.
The research firm also thinks that if Apple reduces production after the holidays, its supply chain will stabilize in the first quarter of the next year because of maintaining iPhone XR sales. As for the luxe models, analysts are under the impression that they will be subjected to normal seasonality during the first quarter of the next year. The gloom around the shipment speculations for the iPhone XR has driven some investors to cash out.
Despite doing its best to appease the Chinese consumers by tweaking the SIM tray according to their requirement, Apple is facing stiff competition in China, primarily because of the local player and aggressive rival Huawei. The Mate 20 flagship phones continue to sell well, exhibiting a year-on-year increase of nearly 25 percent over the last year’s Mate 10. Rosenblatt believes that Apple and Samsung have lost some high-end customers to Huawei in the previous two years.
You can check out some of our previous iPhone XR coverage below.
- iPhone XR Shipments Lifecycle Cut by 30 Million by Renowned Analyst – Lowered Demand Intense Competition Are Few Reasons Highlighted
- Apple’s Phil Schiller Praises iPhone XR’s ‘Low Res’ Display – Says Numbers Mean Nothing When You Can’t See the Pixels
- iPhone XR Screen Repair, Other Damage Pricing Details Revealed – Here’s Everything You Need to Know
Source: AppleInsider
