When Apple releases its earnings report next month, we’ll get a much clearer look at how iPhone sales stacked up for the holiday quarter. In the meantime, we’ve seen no shortage of reports suggesting that iPhone X sales in particular have been especially strong. A new report from Digitimes, however, paints a slightly different picture. Citing sources within the semiconductor packaging and testing service industry, the report claims that iPhone X sales may be a bit flat.
Incidentally, Apple Watch sales are said to be incredibly strong:
The sources pointed out that the pre-orders for the iPhone X in a number of markets such as Taiwan, the US and Singapore, are not as strong as expected, but they are seeing Apple Watch sales fare rather well. For 2018, the sources expect Apple Watch shipments are likely to reach 27 million units, higher than the previous forecast of 23-25 million.
As for the iPhone X, sources suggest that Apple during the holiday quarter will sell anywhere between 30 and 35 million units. All in all, that’s not too shabby considering that iPhone X supply at launch was initially said to be anemic. Apple, though, managed to get a handle on production much quicker than anticipated.
The report adds that iPhone X sales next quarter will either stay flat or drop slightly, which is simply par for the course as we transition from the holiday quarter to the March quarter. For the entirety of 2018, some analysts believe that Apple will set a new iPhone sales record, with Morgan Stanley anticipating sales to check in at the 262 million range.
Lastly, Digitimes echoes previous reports we’ve seen about Apple’s future iPhone plans, namely that Apple next year will release three brand new iPhone models with edgeless displays and support for Face ID. Two of these models are said to feature OLED displays while the third will likely feature an LCD display, as illustrated below:
