After getting off to a hot start, demand for the iPhone 16 non-Pro models has been dropping off. | Image credit-Apple
Overall, the iPhone 16 series lead times are lower than the lead times that the iPhone 15 line had during the same week last year. Looking at these figures, one could conclude that demand is off for the 2024 iPhone models compared with last year’s phones. But Chatterjee sees something else in the data. The narrowing of the difference in lead times between the 2024 non-Pro and Pro models is revealing that demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max is picking up compared to the non-Pro phones.
Chatterjee’s U.S. tracker showed lead times stabilizing for Pro models while non-Pro models had moderate lead times. The U.S. makes up around 32% of iPhone shipments. In China, lead times dropped sharply for the iPhone 16 Plus and moderately for iPhone 16. The iPhone 16 Pro models had stable lead times indicating stronger demand for the iPhone 16 Pro models in China which accounts for 20% of global iPhone shipments.
The same thing was spotted in Europe where lead times for the iPhone 16 non-Pro models were moderate, but stable for the Pro models. Again, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are showing signs of demand compared to the non-Pro models. Germany and the U.K. each make up about 5% of iPhone shipments.