Analysts lower iPhone X shipment projections for first quarter next year

Analysts have lowered iPhone X shipment projections for the first quarter of next year, due to sluggish uptake at the end of the holiday shopping season. Shares of the company fell yesterday along with those of some suppliers.

According to Sinlink Securities Co analyst Zhang Bin, handset shipments in the period may be as low as 35 million or 10 million lower than his earlier projection. He said in a report, "After the first wave of demand has been fulfilled, the market now worries that the high price of the iPhone X may weaken demand in the first quarter."

According to JP Warren Capital LLC, shipments will drop to 25 million units in the first quarter of 2018 from 30 million units in the fourth quarter.

The company cited reduced orders at some Apple suppliers. The New York-based research firm added Friday, that the drop reflected "weak demand because of the iPhone X's high price point and a lack of interesting innovations."

"Bad news here is that highly publicised and promoted X did not boost the global demand for iPhone X," according to the note.

But the iPhone X forms only one part of Apple's smartphone strategy heading into the new year, according to commentators.

However, some analysts are looking at higher shipment forecasts for the iPhone X. According to Loop Capital, iPhone X shipment numbers may be expected at 40 and 45 million units in Q1 2018, while analysts at Jefferies forecast about 40 million iPhone X sales for the quarter.

Apple's efforts to increase iPhone X production in recent months have made supply and demand fairly balanced at the moment, according to Jia Mo, an analyst at Canalys in Shanghai. He said, the market would still have high expectations for Apple's 2018 products if Apple introduces more devices with iPhone X's key features to cover a wider price range.