The shares of iPhone maker Apple plunged by more than 3% on Monday following a warning about the weaker demand for the company’s upcoming model, iPhone 16.
In a note sent to clients, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote that pre-orders for iPhone 16 have amounted to 37 million units since the pre-sale started last week. This represents a 12% decrease compared to pre-orders for iPhone 15, which was released last year.
According to Kuo, a major reason for lower-than-expected demand for iPhone 16 is that Apple Intelligence won’t be immediately available to users. Apple Intelligence, which will introduce artificial intelligence enhancement to many of the phone’s features, including virtual assistant Siri, is expected to launch at some point in October, and even then, it will only be as a Beta version.
“One of the key factors for the lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 Pro series is that the major selling point, Apple Intelligence, is not available at launch alongside the iPhone 16 release,” Kuo stated.
Apple stock closed at $222.50 on Friday before dropping down to $215.80 per share on Monday morning. The stock remains 16.24% up year-to-date but is now more than 8% down compared to the 2024 high from mid-July.