Investing.com -- Demand for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 16 “remains weak,” Jefferies analysts revealed in a Thursday note, with delivery lead time continuing to shorten across major markets.
Citing recent tracking data on October 8, delivery lead times for both the iPhone 16 Pro (16P) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (16PM) have decreased by 3 to 16 days across all seven cities in China, including Hong Kong, compared to the previous tracking on September 29.
The delivery time for the 16P has decreased more significantly than for the 16PM, except in Hong Kong. On average, customers in China wait 23 days for the 16PM, while in Hong Kong the waiting time is 18 days.
In the US, of the seven cities tracked, four saw a reduction in delivery times, two remained unchanged, and Philadelphia experienced an increase of around two days. Similar to China, the 16P in the US saw a greater reduction in delivery time compared to the 16PM.
Outside of these regions, there was a slight increase in delivery times in both Japan and the UK.
At the same time, resale prices for the new iPhone 16 in Hong Kong show that all variants of the 16P continue to trade below their official selling prices, Jefferies notes. For the 16P Max, all variants are now also selling at a discount, compared to September 29, when 6 out of 12 variants were priced above the official rates.
"Although dealer interests have been focusing on only one variant - Desert Gold/256GB, even that most popular variant has gone below the official selling price,” analysts said.
“Conversations with dealers indicate demand from both China and the Middle East is weaker than previous years."
Early data also suggests a double-digit decline in iPhone sales across all models, not just the 16, in the two weeks following the start of deliveries.
"This is worse than our expectations, although it is worth observing a longer period before making conclusions. Also, we believe AAPL would discount old models more aggressively to boost volume if needed,” analysts added.
Jefferies reiterated a cautious outlook on Apple over the next 12 months but remains bullish about the company’s long-term potential due to expected AI developments.