Analyst: Apple iPhone XR inventories are ‘bloated’ due to ‘underwhelming’ sales

“KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst John Vinh said iPhone XR inventory is piling up at stores due to weak sales,” Tae Kim reports for Barron’s. “The smartphone maker’s $749 iPhone XR became available for sale on Oct. 26. The release came after the company put the $999 iPhone XS and the $1,099 iPhone XS Max on the market in September.”
“‘Our latest carrier survey indicates in-line iPhone XS/Max demand, while iPhone XR sell-through has been underwhelming,’ he wrote on Thursday. ‘While iPhone XS Max inventories remain healthy, XR inventories have already bloated to over 3 DOI [days of inventory],'” Kim reports. “KeyBanc’s note came after The Nikkei Asian Review reported on Monday the tech giant is telling its suppliers to cancel plans for additional iPhone XR production lines.”
“KeyBanc’s note came after The Nikkei Asian Review reported on Monday the tech giant is telling its suppliers to cancel plans for additional iPhone XR production lines,” Kim reports. “The media outlet said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter, Foxconn initially prepared to have almost 60 assembly lines for the iPhone XR, but is now using only about 45 lines because Apple said it didn’t need the extra production. The new outlook for demand for the iPhone XR is down 20% to 25% from the original, more-optimistic level, according to Nikkei Asian Review.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: While we wouldn’t trust The Nikkei Asian Review as far as we could throw them, if there actually is an issue with iPhone XR sales — and the jury is still way one on that one — that could be a good thing for Apple as it could mean that when spending over $750 on an iPhone, more people than ever say to themselves, “Well, I might as well get the very best one available,” and buy the iPhone Xs Max over iPhone XR. This would positively impact Apple’s iPhone ASP, of course.
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