Report: iPhone 14 sales are ‘favorable,’ but ‘can’t vanquish rising inflation’

A new report from TrendForce says that iPhone 14 sales are “favorable, yet can’t vanquish rising inflation.” The research group says that, looking at Apple’s 2022 sales, the company began adjusting the proportion of new products after the initial wave of pre-orders.

The market response after the release of the iPhone 14 Plus was lukewarm, escalating Apple’s product adjustment process, according to TrendForce. The iPhone 14 Pro series boasts improved specifications yet unit prices are the same as last year’s models, making pre-orders for the Pro series highly popular.

In the past, the Pro series was the first choice for the earliest wave of users. In addition, the delayed launch of the 14 Plus this year has led to more concentrated buying than in previous years. TrendForce indicates that the production ratio of the two models of the iPhone 14 Pro series has been increased from the initially planned 50% to 60% and it cannot be ruled out that this ratio will continue rising to 65% in the future. At present, the overall proportion of new iPhone models in Apple’s shipments will remain at 36% and the company’s 2022 iPhone shipment target is 240 million units, an annual increase of 2.8%. 

TrendForce points out, while the U.S. continues to raise interest rates to curb inflation, undercutting disposable consumer income, Apple’s production performance will feel these effects in the first quarter of 2023. Production is expected to be lowered to 52 million units from an earlier estimate of 56 million units, a 14% decline year-over-year.