Tim Cook at a game tournament in Apple Taikoo Li, Chengdu
Apple’s demand for the iPhone in China continues to be strong, Wedbush analyst claims, with strong overall demand likely to help push Apple to become the first with a $4 trillion market cap in 2024.
“While there are lingering worries around iPhone shadow government bans in China for now this issue is very containable and has not dented demand for Cupertino in this key region based on our recent checks,” writes Wedbush.
Believing Apple to be heading into a strong holiday season, Wedbush feels that iPhone 15 growth should exceed Street estimates for the December quarter thanks to strong upgrade activity in the U.S. and China, which are “resilient despite the bear noise.”
The unit checks puts Apple on a heading for between 220 million and 230 million units for the iPhone 15 for the full year of 2024, with upside anticipated in later quarters if the pace of upgrade activity continues.
The street “continues to underestimate the underlying upgrade opportunity in China,” proposes the note, with estimates north of 100 million iPhones in the upgrade window “despite Huawei and geopolitical headwinds.” That even takes into account the average selling price going up from around $825 to $850 of recent years to touching $925 now.
