Abstract:
As Apple’s new generation flagship smartphones iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are officially launched globally, consumers’ actual purchasing enthusiasm is overcoming previous market concerns that high prices may suppress replacement demand.
The latest supply chain data and retail market feedback show that the overall market demand for the iPhone 18 Pro series has exceeded Apple's previously relatively cautious expectations, with consumers showing particularly strong preference for high-configuration versions and large-capacity storage specifications.
Before the release of this year’s new models, the market generally held a wait-and-see attitude towards the pricing strategy of the iPhone 18 Pro series due to factors such as the surge in global memory chip prices and the increase in advanced process chip packaging costs. Although Apple ultimately withstood some of the cost pressure and kept the starting price increase of the Pro series within a relatively modest range, the price of the high-end version still hit a new high. However, tracking data from the start of pre-sales to the official first sales stage shows that price adjustments have not significantly hindered the pace of replacement by high-end users.
Similar to previous years, the product line shows obvious structural differentiation. Not only does the high-end iPhone 18 Pro Max continue to account for the largest proportion of pre-orders, but consumers are also accelerating towards higher specifications of 512GB and above when choosing storage capacity. This trend shows that as users’ demand for high-resolution video recording, local AI large model applications, and local storage of large games grows, high-end consumers have a very high willingness to pay for higher configurations and larger storage space, and are relatively less sensitive to price fluctuations.
In order to cope with stronger-than-expected high-end order demand, Apple's supply chain is currently operating at high load. Industry analysts pointed out that thanks to the steady increase in the production capacity of the new generation A20 Pro chip and the improvement in the supply of new cooling modules, Apple’s first batch of stock this year is more abundant than in previous years. Even so, the expected delivery lead time for some popular colors and large-capacity versions has been extended to several weeks, fully demonstrating the strong resilience of market demand.
Industry observers say that the outstanding performance of the iPhone 18 Pro series in the launch cycle not only confirms Apple's unshakable brand stickiness in the high-end smartphone market, but also shows that against the backdrop of a prolonged replacement cycle, top flagships with significant performance leaps and hardware innovations can still effectively stimulate users' willingness to replace their phones, laying a solid foundation for Apple's subsequent quarterly performance.
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