Sales of the iPhone 16 Series appear to have fallen below Apple’s expectations. Just about a month after its launch, the American tech giant has decided to reduce production of the iPhone 16 Series by millions of units.
This information was shared by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a post on Medium. According to Kuo, the models most affected by this cutback are the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
“Production of the iPhone 16 has been reduced by around 10 million units for the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first half of 2025. The majority of the reductions are on the non-Pro models,” Kuo noted in his post, as reported by 9to5Mac.
With this reduction, the production of the iPhone 16 for the second half of 2024 is now expected to drop to approximately 84 million units, down from an initial estimate of 88 million units.
This reduction includes 10 million units spread over three quarters: the last quarter of 2024 and the first two quarters of 2025. Kuo predicts that Apple will produce 80 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decline from 84 million units in the same period last year.
In the first quarter of 2025, iPhone production is expected to reach 45 million units, down from 48 million units the previous year. For the second quarter, production figures are projected to be around 39 million units, a decrease from 41 million units during the same period last year.
Despite the drop in production, Apple is not anticipated to experience significant revenue impacts in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to strong sales of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which has become the best-selling variant during this time. The effects of this production cut are expected to be felt more acutely in the first quarter of 2025, especially as the average selling price of iPhones could decline with the introduction of the iPhone SE 4.
Kuo remains optimistic that Apple Intelligence, the company’s new artificial intelligence technology, will be key to its future success. However, he emphasizes that software innovations must be matched by advancements in hardware to truly drive iPhone sales.
Apple Intelligence is set to launch next week alongside the iOS 18.1 update and will be available to users of the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, all iPhone 16 variants, as well as iPad and Mac devices with M1 chips or higher.
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