Abstract:
Apple is preparing to launch a considerable production plan for the standard iPhone 18. The whistleblower "Dingjiao Digital" recently posted on Weibo that the standard version of iPhone 18 is expected to start production in late November, and that the inventory scale Apple is preparing is "quite large."
Apple’s confidence is likely to come from the strong market performance of iPhone 17. According to "The Information", after the first pre-order weekend of iPhone 17, Apple asked two suppliers to increase daily production by at least 30%.
Data subsequently released by Counterpoint Research showed that the standard version of iPhone 17 ranked first in global smartphone sales in both the first and second quarters of 2026. Sales in both quarters accounted for 6% of global smartphone shipments, even surpassing iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro.
The iPhone 18 is expected to generally continue the existing design, but may bring a number of upgrades, including a smaller Smart Island, A20 chip, and Apple’s self-developed C2 baseband. This model is expected to be released in the spring of 2027 along with the iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2. If production does start in late November, Apple will have several months to accumulate inventory before the official launch to cope with potential market demand.
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