Anticipation For iPhone X May Be Cannibalizing iPhone 8 Preorders

Apple’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were both made available to pre-order over the weekend and are expected to hit stores this Friday. However, an analyst believes that preorders for the phones may have been weaker than anticipated because of the iPhone X.

Preorders for the latest iPhones usually sell out in September due to high demand. This year however, it looks like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus will very much be available on launch day at Apple retail stores and for deliveries, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as per Mac Rumors.

Kuo believes that this is because many are still waiting for the iPhone X, and consumers will be more “conservative” towards the iPhone 8. The iPhone X won’t be available until Nov. 3, while preorders for the handset won’t commence until Oct. 27.

“Historically, it takes 3-6 weeks or more to ship new iPhone models after they are available for preorder, due to initial tight supply and robust demand. However, our latest review indicates it will take less than 1-2 weeks for the iPhone 8,” Kuo explained. “We believe this is because there is a strong likelihood that iPhone X demand will cannibalize iPhone 8 pre-orders.”

Although the iPhone X is incredibly expensive with its $999 starting price, it’s understandable that most consumers are more excited about it than the iPhone 8. The iPhone X comes with a fresh new design, while the iPhone 8 models still comes with the familiar iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus design language. The only major difference between the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 is that the former comes with glass panels front and back. Simply put, the iPhone 8 seems more like an "S" upgrade rather than a brand new generation, as pointed out by The Verge.

It’s very likely that current iPhone 7 owners aren’t that too enthusiastic about the iPhone 8 and are simply waiting for the more exciting iPhone X to become available to preorder. That’s good news for the iPhone X, but it does mean that it could hamper the overall preorder numbers of the iPhone 8.

Aside from the new iPhones, Kuo also discussed the demand for the new Apple Watch Series 3. He says that preorder demand for the new LTE-enable smartwatch is “significantly stronger” than expected. The KGI Securities analyst believes that the incredible high demand might be due to the lower-than-expected $70 premium pricing over than older Apple Watch models.

“Before the media event, we forecasted the production weighting of the GPS + Cellular version would be 30-40%. However, the pre-order website shows shipments of this version are taking much longer than those of the GPS version (3-4 weeks, from shipments launch day of September 22),” Kuo explained. “We estimate the preorder weighting of the GPS + Cellular version is 80-90%.”

Preorders for the LTE Apple Watch Series 3 commenced last Friday and initial shipments are expected to arrive on Sept. 22, according to Phone Arena. Customers who placed orders today will now have to wait three to four weeks to get their hands on the LTE smartwatch. As for the non-cellular version of the Apple Watch Series 3, that won't arrive until Oct. 2.