Apple on Friday greeted customers at its stores around the world for the debuts of the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4.
The new products were announced at an event earlier this month and were available for pre-order from September 13. The company lit up the glass cube at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, in a nod to the improved Siri, which will illuminate the edges of the new iPhone’s screen when the feature goes live next month.
Apple’s fresh iPhones mark the company’s latest move into artificial intelligence, with new Apple Intelligence features set to roll out in October. The new features will allow customers to rewrite text, remove objects from photos and speak to an improved Siri. The software upgrades will only be available on the iPhone 16 and last year’s iPhone 15 Pro devices.
A view of Apple’s new iPhone 16 at an Apple Store on Regent Street in London, United Kingdom on September 20, 2024.
Rasid Necati Aslim | Anadolu | Getty Images
However, Apple shares fell on Monday after analysts reported that demand for the latest iPhones was lower than expected. TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a note on Monday that first-weekend sales were down about 12 percent year-on-year from the iPhone 15 last year. Barclays, JPMorgan and Bank of America also noted that shipping times could translate into less demand for the more expensive iPhone Pro models compared to last year.
CNBC’s Steve Kovach spoke with CEO Tim Cook outside Apple’s Fifth Avenue store and asked if sales look better or worse than last year. “I don’t know yet. It’s only the first hour, so we’ll see,” Cook said.
On Friday, UBS analysts suggested that investors should not overreact to what appears to be lighter sales because that data is also collected by analyzing wait times for new iPhone models, and that these were longer last year due in part to to supply chain disruptions.
Apple Store Fifth Avenue in New York
Steve Kovach| CNBC
“Ahead of the iPhone 16 announcement, our analysis suggested that the lack of a killer app and arguably somewhat half-baked introduction of Apple Intelligence would dampen demand,” UBS analysts wrote. “While we still maintain that the iPhone/iOS feature set is more evolutionary than revolutionary, we caution that investors should not overreact to data that suggests somewhat tepid initial demand.”
UBS analysts said last year’s supply chain disruptions “slightly skewed/extended last year’s data,” which led to longer customer wait times for Pro models. Last year, UBS wrote, customers had a 41-day wait time for some iPhone 15 Pro Max pre-orders compared to a 26-day wait time for the iPhone 16 Pro Max this year.
“Nevertheless, data across all models and regions, about a week into the release, supports our view that a supercycle is not imminent, with US and China data at the margin disappointing compared to last year,” they wrote.
Devices of the new Apple Watch Series 10 model are on display after the presentation at Apple headquarters.
Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
The Apple Watch Series 10 offers a larger screen than previous models. It will support, along with the previous Series 9, the new sleep apnea detection, as well as other new features. AirPods 4 offer a refresh with a smaller charging case and a noise-canceling option.
CNBC reviewed the new iPhone 16 Pro Max and Apple Watch Series 10 earlier in the week.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Steve Kovach contributed to this report.
