While there is high demand for the iPhone 7 Plus and the Jet Black color option continues to maintain its massive popularity, Apple will not be able to beat the expected decline in sales of the iPhone 7 compared with its predecessor, the iPhone 6s.
According to a new note by famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, sales for the iPhone 7 Plus are going better than expected, but sales so far for the iPhone 7 are lower compared with the iPhone 6s.
One of the factors said by Kuo behind the higher-than-expected demand for the iPhone 7 Plus is the ongoing global recall program for Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, due to faulty, exploding batteries of the smartphone. With consumers shunning the Galaxy Note 7 due to the battery issues, they have chosen Apple's iPhone 7 Plus as the replacement for a large-display smartphone.
In addition, according to Kuo, the dual-camera system of the iPhone 7 Plus has received great reviews, leading to higher sales for the larger versions of the iPhone 7.
The Jet Black option for the iPhone 7, meanwhile, was found by KGI Securities through a survey as the most popular color for the iPhone 7. For preorders of the smartphone worldwide, Jet Black was chosen as the preferred color for 30 percent to 35 percent, and in China, the color was the chosen option for 45 percent to 50 percent of preorders.
The survey launched by KGI Securities also found that the 128 GB model is the most popular choice for preorders, in terms of internal storage space.
As for the preorder figures of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Kuo said that the sales numbers for the two variants are almost equal, again largely because of the issues surrounding the Galaxy Note 7.
Kuo also noted that the early supply shortages that Apple faced for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were not entirely because of the demand for the smartphones. The Jet Black option, in particular, is much harder to manufacture for Apple, and the smartphones launched across 28 countries on the first day of availability for the iPhone 7, compared with only 12 countries for the iPhone 6s.
Lastly, Kuo predicted that, despite the high demand for the iPhone 7 Plus and the popularity of the Jet Black color option, Apple will still see a year-over-year decrease in iPhone sales. KGI Securities increased estimated sales for the smartphones from between 60 million and 65 million to between 70 million and 75 million, but that will still be lower compared with the sales of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus last year.
The launch weekend sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were already previously found to be much lower compared with that of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and it seems that the trend is continuing for Apple.
