Shares of Apple (AAPL) closed down 2.16% on Wednesday after a report that the iPhone maker cut orders for its latest version by millions of units.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the tech giant cut iPhone 16 orders by around 10 million units for the fourth quarter of this year into the first half of 2025. Most of the cuts were for non-Pro models, Kuo said, but an estimate for iPhone 16 production is now down to 84 million units for the second half of the year, compared to the previous estimate of 88 million.
Total iPhone production estimates for the fourth quarter and the first and second half of next year are all down year-over-year, Kuo said, to 80 million, 45 million, and 39 million units, respectively. Previous estimates were 84 million, 48 million, and 41 million, respectively.
iPhone revenue for Apple’s fourth quarter “may not fully reflect the impact of production cuts, as the gap between production and sell-through in 4Q23 was larger than in 4Q24, and the product mix in 4Q24 is more favorable (with increased production of the Pro Max model for Sep-Oct),” Kuo said.
But iPhone revenues will likely “come under pressure” in the first half of next year, Kuo said, because of the year-over-year decline in shipments, and “less favorable product mix” after Apple launches the iPhone SE4. Mass production of the iPhone SE4 will start in December, Kuo said, and production is expected to be 8.6 million units between then and the first half of next year.
Apple also released a new preview of its highly anticipated AI features and ChatGPT integration in the developer beta on Wednesday. Its Apple Intelligence features are expected to be released next week through the iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 software updates.
