iPhone X Won’t Reach Supply-Demand Equilibrium Until Next Year, Says Kuo

In a new research note to investors, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple’s 10th anniversary edition iPhone X, pre-orders for which are set to begin on October 27, won’t be able to achieve complete supply-demand balance until at least the first half of 2018 due to supply constraints, MacRumors is reporting.

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Here’s what Kuo wrote:

“We believe the fullscreen design and facial recognition features will drive replacement demand for the iPhone X. However, due to supply constraints, we expect market demand won’t be fully met before 1H18. We revise down our forecast for 2017F iPhone X shipments from 45-50 million to around 40 million units, but we therefore revise up our 2018 iPhone X shipment estimate to 80-90 million units”.

The analyst also noted that another reason why the iPhone X pre-orders won’t begin for another six weeks is because Apple doesn’t want to cannibalize sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which are already available for pre-order and will hit the stores on Friday, September 22.

Previously, Kuo has claimed in another research note that the iPhone X production is less than 10,000 units per day, although the yield may be increasing as Apple ramps up mass production. Furthermore, he also said that a gold iPhone X has encountered some production problems, which is why it may launch at a later date.

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