If you haven’t already pre-ordered a new iPhone, get ready to wait a few weeks.
The tech giant saw initial stock of all versions of its iPhone XS and XS Max phones sell out on Friday, with the hottest models now shipping more than two weeks after their upcoming Sept. 21 launch date.
Even the initial stock of the $1,449 iPhone XS Max, tricked out with 512gb of storage, sold out within an hour of its pre-order page going live at 3:01 a.m. ET. As of Friday evening, the earliest ship date was pushed back a full week.
The Apple Watch Series 4 — which along with the new crop of iPhones got unveiled in a splashy Apple presentation on Tuesday — was likewise in short supply, with certain colors of the wearable showing an estimated delivery date of the week of Oct. 12.
“We’ve seen exactly what we anticipated,” CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino told The Post. “Of the two iPhones that are available, the more popular of the two is the iPhone XS Max because it wasn’t on the market last year.”
Zino added that Apple selling out during the first day of pre-orders has less to do with consumer demand than with how many iPhones its suppliers are able to crank out.
Tech analyst Shelly Palmer agrees, noting that demand for the new smartphones is steep enough to strain any company’s supply chain.
“They’ve got great forecasting and they make incredible products,” Palmer said. “I do not think they under-produced these.”
Apple, meanwhile, is still more than a month away from opening pre-orders for its more affordable iPhone XR, which features the same edge-to-edge form factor as the iPhone X and XS family, but starts at a more manageable $749.
“I think, by far, the best-selling iPhone product over the next year is going to be the iPhone XR,” Zino said.
Apple shares ended Friday down 1.1 percent, at $223.84.
Source: Read Full Article