Demand for Apple's iPhone 14 Pro is so strong that one analyst thinks there may be an issue with inventory for the holiday season.
Apple (ticker: APPL) launched the iPhone 14 for sale in stores on Sept. 16, along with other new products like the Apple Watch Series 8. The new iPhone is available in four different models: The base iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Plus, the iPhone 14 Pro, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. It's only been a few days since the release, and demand has been strong for the phone, specifically for high-end models iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
"The iPhone 14 Pro is significantly more popular than the iPhone 13 Pro, relative to customer choice," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told Barron's on Tuesday. "We saw a lot more customers with the iPhone 13 going to the base model, versus what we see today that heavily skewed toward the 14." He rates Apple stock at Outperform with a $220 price target.
This was a happy surprise for the company. Given the current macroeconomic backdrop, "there was the thought that [Apple] was going to have a demand problem, not a supply problem. Now, [Apple] has the opposite of what many thought they would have," the analyst said.
And by opposite, Ives means the company may face supply issues for customers looking to buy phones as gifts headed into the holiday season, forcing earlier purchases.
"At this pace, there will be minimal inventory in Apple stores or on the website by mid-November," said Ives. "So Apple has to significantly ramp its supply for Pros over the next three to four weeks to start to meet what could be significant demand during the holidays."
The popularity of the high-end phones is surprising during a time when many people are struggling with record-high inflation, but that hasn't stopped shoppers from buying the $1,000 iPhone Pro. Ives said that one reason for this is because of the advancements in the iPhone 14 Pro models compared with the base model, such as the improved camera. He also said that a lot of users were overdue for an iPhone upgrade to begin with, and carrier promotions were enough incentive to take the plunge.
"Based on our estimates, 240 million of 1 billion iPhone users worldwide have not upgraded in over 38 months. So there's a lot of pent up demand just in terms of overall upgrade," he said.
Because of carriers like Verizon Communications $(VZ)$ and T-Mobile US $(TMUS)$ offering trade-in promotions, Ives said that "financially, it makes a ton more sense to go down the Pro route than the base model. The path of least resistance when you put all the promotions together is to go with the Pro model."
Overall, Ives sees consumers' excitement over the new iPhone 14 Pro to be a positive for the company and potentially, the stock.
"Tech continues to be under massive pressure because of the Fed rates and risk off, but I think this is setting up for Apple to hold up much better than other tech names and the broader market if this demand story continues, which we believe it will," he said.
Apple stock is up 1.6% Tuesday to $156.9 while the S&P 500 is down 1.1%. The stock has fallen about 12% so far this year, but has gained 2.4% since the close on Sept. 15, the day before the iPhone 14 release date.
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