Apple had just made one of the most remarkable and legendary product releases in history with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Despite its products' popularity on a global scale, a KGI analyst predicted that the latest flagship phone of Apple "won't sell."
Sales of iPhone 7 units for 2016 have been pegged to be fewer than what its predecessor iPhone 6s sold in 2015. This prediction by KGI Securities' famous tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, which was given to AppleInsider, has won the attention of the tech department as it is contrary to the sell-outs of mobile carriers in the U.S.
The research company already pronounced before that sales estimates of iPhone 7 and iPhone Plus will reach 65 million units. However, the Kuo upped this number to between 70 and 75 million units. As explained, this increase will be brought by Samsung's recall of Galaxy Note 7 units. Nevertheless, this figure is still below iPhone 6s' sales in 2015.
Apart from Samsung's recall, the 70 to 75 million figure revealed by Kuo is hugely because of the intense marketing campaigns of mobile carriers in the U.S. and "not entirely due to market demand," the same report stated. Particularly, Sprint and T-Mobile both have launched iPhone 7 promos, including trade-ins and discounts, to lure more subscribers.
As for iPhone 7 Plus, the low yields on the jet black units is one of the reasons also for its low stocks, which Kuo suggested to investors to take advantage of.
iPhone 7 Demand 'A Phenomenon'
Last Sept. 20, analysts from South Korea already revealed in a report the opposite of Kuo's prediction. According to Song Eun-jeong of Hi Investment and Securities, the Cupertino-giant is bound to steal the top spot in the smartphone competition primarily due to the efforts of mobile carriers.
In addition, Lee Seung-woo of IBK Investment and Securities reportedly stated that there are already South Korean suppliers who were ordered to manufacture around 80 to 85 million iPhone 7 units. This venture puts the release of over 100 million iPhone 7 units before 2016 comes to an end.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere also commented that the iPhone 7's demand is "phenomenon."
