Earlier today, word spread that Apple’s iPhone X may not be selling as briskly as initially anticipated. Citing the device’s expensive $999 price point, Sinolink Securities Co. analyst Zhang Bin said that iPhone X sales for the current quarter may check in at 35 million units, about 10 million fewer units than some analysts have been projecting.
Meanwhile, a new report from the Taiwan-based Economic Daily News relays that Apple recently trimmed component orders from suppliers due to weaker than expected demand for the iPhone X. As a result, shares of Apple took a hit today with the stock trading down nearly 5% at the time of this writing.
In truth, only Apple has any idea as to how iPhone X sales are measuring up this quarter. And if history is any indication, analyst projections when it comes to iPhone sales can be laughably off the mark. That said, there are some analysts who believe that iPhone X sales are doing just fine. Specifically, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang maintains that the fear of weakening iPhone X sales is overblown, if not completely misplaced.
To this point, Zhang articulates that reports of Apple cutting component orders may actually be related to the company’s iPhone 8 models, not the flagship iPhone X.
“Some media reports are likely highlighting cuts at specific iPhone 8 component suppliers and Android orders,” Zhang said in a note obtained by Street Insider. “We highlight that we do not see 3D sensing or OLED panel order cuts, which are specific components for the iPhone X.”
That said, Zhang believes that iPhone X sales remain solid and that the device is selling especially well in China, long one of Apple’s more strategic markets. Specifically, the iPhone X is said to be selling better than the iPhone 8, with the 256GB model said to be even more popular than the entry-level 64GB model.
With Apple set to post its earnings results for the holiday quarter next month, we’ll get a clearer idea of how iPhone X sales measure up soon enough.
