iPhone 12 Series Still Strong Despite Weaker Demand, Says JP Morgan Analyst

Quarterly shipments of Apple's iPhone 12 series continue to enjoy a year-on-year increase, despite weakening demand for the devices, according to JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee (via AppleInsider).

In an investor note from the analyst, Chatterjee decreased his 2021 iPhone shipment expectations from 236 million units to 230 million units, but noted that this number was still equivalent to a 13% overall increase in volume shipments for Apple compared to 2020.

Chatterjee's revised expectations are based on a significant cut in iPhone 12 Pro shipments and weaker-than-expected demand for the iPhone 12 mini, both of which make the bank "take note of a weaker demand environment." Chatterjee continues to believe that Apple will discontinue ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ production in the second quarter this year.

A report at the start of the year suggested Apple's ‌‌iPhone 12 mini‌‌, which is the smallest ‌‌iPhone‌‌ that has been released since the 2016 iPhone SE, has not been selling as well as Apple hoped, making up just 6% of ‌iPhone 12‌ sales in the U.S. in October and November. A later report claimed that the ‌‌iPhone 12 mini‌‌ accounted for only 5% of all ‌‌iPhone 12‌‌ sales in the U.S. in the first half of January.

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The JP Morgan analyst puts the slowing demand for the ‌iPhone 12‌ series as a whole down to weaker consumer spending in China and a normalization of demand trends following the initial excitement surrounding Apple's adoption of 5G connectivity in the ‌iPhone 12‌ series.

Chatterjee revised his shipment estimate to 52 million units for the March quarter, a 3 million decrease compared to his original expectations. For the June quarter, the analyst revised the number to 42 million units from 36 million units.

"However, at this time we do not see any reason to change our 2H21 volume forecast," said Chatterjee, noting that the supply chain is sticking with its 80 to 90 million build estimate for the first half of this year.