Apple (AAPL) shares were down 2.78% today, Monday September 16, as pre-order sales to the iPhone 16 showed lower than expected demand for the new phones after a lackluster update that included fewer AI features than competitive smartphones.
Pre-order sales, which began Friday, have tallied an estimated 37 million units, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a report. That’s down almost 13% from last year’s iPhone 15 launch and is a result of weaker-than-anticipated interest in the Pro model of the iPhone 16, Kuo wrote.
“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 wrote in the report.
After a weak start to the year, shares in the company had rallied in the past four months as Wall Street bet Apple’s AI features would boost sales. Today’s slump left Apple shares up roughly 12% for the year. That trails the 15% gain in the Nasdaq 100 Index.
The demand weakness for the iPhone 16 is not a good sign, “particularly since we’re heading into the holiday selling season soon,” Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak told Bloomberg. The risk of a “meaningful decline” in the shares has “risen in a material way.”
Today’s drop to a close of $216.32 took the stock below its moving average at $222.88. The 200-day moving average is at $195.67, which is roughly where the stock stood back in June. If iPhone 16 sales are as weak as now expected, I don’t see any reason that the stock couldn’t revisit this level.
I think this troubled for Apple shares has been in the cards since the companies Worldwide Developers Conference in June. More recently, see my September 8 post Could Apple’s new phones disappoint Wall Street https://www.jubakpicks.com/could-apples-new…oint-wall-street/
