iPhone 12 shipments could reach as many as 80 million units by the end of the year thanks to Apple's more affordable pricing strategy, according to market observers (via DigiTimes).
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The pricing dynamics, coupled with a number [of] technology updates, including a faster A14 processor, improved product designs and camera functionalities, is expected to bring a new round of sales growth for Apple, said the observers.
Shipments of the new iPhone lineup, including the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, will at least top 70 million units by the end 2020, with the possibility of hitting 80 million barring a further escalation of the US-China trade conflicts, they said.
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max start at $999 and $1,099, respectively, which are the same prices that the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max were when they launched last year. However, the 256GB and 512GB storage options for both iPhone 12 Pro models are $50 cheaper than their predecessors were at those capacities. Meanwhile the iPhone 12 starts at $799, and the iPhone 12 mini starts at a more affordable $699 entry point.
Apple's decision to adopt a two-phase shipment strategy – with the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro becoming available later this month and the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini arriving in November – is not expected to significantly affect demand, and may extend Apple's order pull-ins from the upstream supply chain to the first quarter of 2021, according to DigiTimes' sources.
TSMC, which produces the 5-nanometer A14 Bionic processor in Apple's new iPhones, is expected to benefit most from robust sales. TSMC also fabricates the A14 chips in Apple's iPads, which are currently seeing a surge in popularity, and the foundry is expected to roll out over 150,000 wafers for 5nm chips in the fourth quarter of 2020, with Apple accounting for about 90% of related orders.
Foxconn remains Apple's main iPhone assembler, and has reportedly secured the bulk of orders for the new iPhone 12 series through the first quarter of 2021. Foxconn is also the sole supplier of the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max and is estimated to be handling over 70% of the orders for the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, according to DigiTimes.
Top Rated Comments
Not that I'm in doubt Apple will continue to sell truckload of phones by the end of the year.
I don't make a ton of money. I'm your typical ham & egger who works 40 (OT if it's offered) and am grinding it out on a modest state government salary for the sole reason that I've got seniority and a pension at the end (which is huge, but I did work the same crappy job for 23 years so anyway). We were deemed "essential" at the beginning of the pandemic. They let people work from home for a few weeks at the peak, but shut that down months ago. Everyone I work with is coming into the office, doing field work, seeing "customers" (a polite word for it) doing mandatory group trainings, etc.
I'm immuno compromised and I have a heart condition, but I'm here every day. Which I feel pretty fortunate to be doing as working from home is hell for me (I hate it) and I am working. I've even ended up getting some OT as some outside operations shifted to our facility because of the pandemic, and there have been gaps to fill. For this I am grateful.
So, through all this time I've been working, even getting a little extra. There are a lot of people struggling, and I acknowledge that. I won't get any deeper into the weeds. This isn't a "political" thread and I don't want to go down that road either way.
But all this time, I've had almost nothing to spend my money on but bills and food. A few restaurants have re opened and my wife and I make a ritual of going out on Sunday mornings for breakfast. Other than that we have pretty much nothing to spend our money on. Movies are closed, our cruise next month was cancelled (thank god, I didn't want to be on that floating Petri dish of experimentation). We haven't been down the beach, and going to the mall to shop for a day while permitted, sucks. I really don't enjoy walking around the mall with a KN95 on. Again, a discussion not for the thread.
So a lot of people have some extra money lying around. The purchase options are very attractive, the 5G is going to be more of a factor than people think, and the new phones are really nice.
So I think Apple sells a ton of them. I really do. I'm ordering one tomorrow at 8AM EDT and I can't wait to get my hands on it.