As we reported prior to Apple‘s announcement, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the iPhone X will suffer some gnarly supply constraints when it’s released later this year. Since its confirmation, he’s revised his prediction, but it’s still bad news for those keen on the expensive phone.
He says customer demand for the device won’t be fully met until the first half of next year.
“We believe the fullscreen design and facial recognition features will drive replacement demand for the iPhone X,” he explained in his note with KGI Securities.
“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.”
In other words, if you’re willing to dish out the $1,500 plus for one of these bad boys, you better be doing it the second pre-orders open up.
Beyond the supply issues plaguing production, Kuo also reckons the reason Apple delayed pre-orders for the iPhone X is so they don’t impact sales of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
While the iPhone X is the most radical design change to the device in some time, the iPhone 8 is closer to an iPhone 7s in nature, featuring only minor hardware updates.
Pre-orders for the tenth anniversary phone open on October 27 and begin shipping on November 3.
