Apple’s iPhone 16, which was announced on the ninth and commenced taking pre-orders, is alleged to have shown poor sales performance in its first weekend. The evaluation is that that is attributable to the shortage of Apple Intelligence, a man-made intelligence (AI) function.
Business Insider reported on the seventeenth (local time) that 37 million iPhone 16 units were pre-ordered in the primary weekend, citing a blog post by Ming-Chi Kuo, a famous Apple analyst.
In keeping with this, Kuo estimated the sales volume based on the newest supply chain survey and pre-order results from Apple’s official website. Sales from last Friday to Sunday decreased by 12.7% in comparison with the primary weekend last 12 months when the iPhone 15 was released.
“Crucial factor is lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 Pro series,” he said, adding that “it’s because the foremost selling point, Apple Intelligence, will not be being released at the identical time.” He added that “the fierce competition within the Chinese market continues to affect demand.”
It is a far cry from what Wedbush analysts had predicted: “The golden upgrade cycle has arrived.” When the iPhone 16 was unveiled on the ninth, Wedbush said, “We consider this will probably be probably the most successful iPhone launch in Apple’s history, as Apple Intelligence will probably be the beginning of a worldwide consumer AI revolution.”
Nonetheless, this issue is alleged to be controversial even amongst experts. Jin Munster, a partner at Deepwater Asset Management, analyzed that “the delay in the discharge of latest AI features and the general impact on the user experience are the foremost aspects hindering the upgrade supercycle.”
Bloomberg even predicted that “the iPhone 17, not the iPhone 16, will lead the true upgrade.” Which means it’s going to take time for Apple’s intelligence to completely take shape and leave major examples by way of user experience.
After all, it’s too early to take a position on the success of this weekend. Apple will begin selling the iPhone 16 in stores starting on the twentieth.
Sales that properly reflect AI demand are expected to start in October, when an early version of Apple Intelligence is anticipated to be installed.
Meanwhile, Apple released iOS 18, which will probably be installed on the brand new iPhones on this present day. This time, Apple Intelligence was not included. iOS 18.1, which is provided with AI, is currently in developer testing.
Reporter Im Dae-jun ydj@aitimes.com
