iPhone 16 shipments were previously reported to see an increase in 2024, but that may not be the case when it launches, according to claims by an Apple analyst. This rise in iPhone orders from suppliers was speculated to be a result of upgrades coming with Apple’s next iPhone, which was headlined by Apple Intelligence – its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features. However, the recent earnings calls of Apple suppliers is reported to have hinted at the company expecting similar shipments of its iPhone 16 as compared to the iPhone 15 series.
iPhone 16 Shipments
In previous weeks, rumours had surfaced that suggested Apple may be planning more iPhone 16 shipments in 2024. A recent Bloomberg report suggested that Apple was betting on shipping at least 90 million iPhone 16 units in the latter half of 2024, translating into a 10 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth. This is attributed to the iPhone maker expecting more sales of the entire iPhone 16 lineup courtesy of the new A18 chipset as well as Apple Intelligence features.
However, that may not turn out to be the case. According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, earnings calls of two Apple suppliers – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Largan – suggest Apple is not expecting any big jump in shipments of its next iPhone series from an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) or assembly perspective.
It is speculated to be expecting 87 million iPhone 16 units shipped in the second half of 2024, as compared to 91 million iPhone 15 shipments in 2H23.
As per the analyst, folks at TSMC said “We did not see kind of unit growth suddenly increased”. Furthermore, “orders for high-end models this year are similar to last year”, Largan commented.
Notably, Apple Intelligence is officially confirmed to be only compatible with iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max powered by the A17 Pro SoC. On the other hand, the standard iPhone 15 and previous models are not supported. Since the entire iPhone 16 lineup is speculated to run on the same chipset, all models in the series may support Apple’s AI suite.