Apple’s new iPhone 15 Pro Max may not be available to purchase in several nations until November, including China, Japan, and the United States. This is an early indication of the company’s strong demand, as pre-orders for the device began on Friday.
Following a decline in iPhone sales in the June quarter due to a downturn in the global smartphone market, the signals are expected to allay some concerns about the demand for Apple’s flagship handset.
The four- to five-week wait time for the Pro Max in China may ease concerns about a financial damage in the third-largest market for Apple products due to growing competition from Huawei and Beijing’s expanding restrictions on government employees using iPhones.
According to the Apple website, the wait time for the iPhone 15 Pro is two to three weeks in China. On September 22, when the phone goes on sale in retailers,.
The Pro Max, which is the most costly model in the iPhone 15 model lineup that was unveiled last week, will not be available yet in the world’s largest market for six to seven weeks. The wait for the model in Japan is five to six weeks.
However, unlike China, the Pro model only requires a two to three week wait for the 128GB version in the US and Japan.
According to some analysts, the prolonged wait time was also a reflection of the Pro Max’s reduced initial availability since Apple had difficulty obtaining supplies of the panels used in the model with smaller bezels than previous iPhones.
However, those problems have been fixed, according to Nabila Popal, research director for IDC’s global tracker group.
We anticipate Apple to ramp up by the holiday season, with shipments heavily favoring the Pro Max model, which should raise the company’s average selling price.
China’s powerful orders
According to Chinese local media sources, the pricey iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max variants were out of stock on Alibaba’s Tmall marketplace within a minute of being on sale.
More than 3.4 million reservations were made for the four iPhone 15 versions on JD.com, one of Apple’s major Chinese sales channels, prior to the e-commerce site starting orders on Friday evening.
Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint, stated that since Huawei’s demise, the iPhone has been able to draw in a sizable number of customers in the more than $600 (almost Rs. 50,000) market.
Lam added that Huawei’s Mate 60 series will pose a challenge to the iPhone. “The new iPhone 15 series, especially the Pro series, will be a good choice for the installed base who are using iPhone 11/12 and looking for an update replacement,” Lam said.
The smartphone with a cutting-edge chip was released by Huawei late last month, and analysts believe it could herald a resurgence for the Chinese tech company, which was once the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer before US export limits destroyed its industry.
This week, better-than-anticipated sales led Huawei to increase its prediction for shipments of its Mate 60 series in the second half by 20% and its forecast for shipments of all new smartphones in 2023 to at least 40 million units, according to state media.
The Mate 60 introduction by Huawei was unique in that there was no pre-marketing or flashy event planned but on September 25, the firm is scheduled to have an event where it is anticipated that it would discuss its new smartphone.
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