KGI: iPhone 8 sales are not weak, people are just waiting for the iPhone X

The slipping shipping dates should have been a clue – the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are selling as well as expected, claim industry analysts at KGI. According to their numbers, the two 8 models saw roughly half the sales during the opening week compared to last year’s iPhone 7.

But KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo (usually an authoritative source) expects that the iPhone X will match the sales of the 8 and 8 Plus combined. This will bring sale numbers back to where they need to be. Earlier, KGI predicted 50+ million pre-orders for the X, so it’s a matter of how fast Apple can make them.

Keep in mind that even at equal number of phones sold, Apple will earn more money – the $1,000 iPhone X will increase the Average Selling Price (ASP) of Cupertino’s product line.

Additional curious info from the launch weekend sales show that the iPhone 8 Plus outsold the smaller model. In previous years the smaller and more affordable model lead in the sales.

Kuo writes: "While we acknowledge that queues outside SIM-free channels have been much shorter than after previous iPhone launches, we see stable first-weekend demand for the iPhone 8/8 Plus in carrier channels. Most of those camping outside unlocked-device outlets are presumably hardcore Apple fans and heavy users, whose plan this year is to gear up for the iPhone X."

Via