Gene Munster Flags Rising iPhone 18 Pre-Order Wait Times as Demand Signal

IndustryProduct / Tech

โดย Benzinga·

Summary · why it matters

Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster said Monday that Apple's iPhone 18 pre-order wait times have climbed sharply since the weekend, a trend he calls an early, favorable signal of demand across major markets worldwide. In a post on X, Munster said average lead times across eight countries reached 2.6 weeks three days into pre-orders, up from 1.6 weeks the day before, matching where Pro models stood at this point last year, with part of the increase reflecting a shift in pre-orders from Friday to Saturday. Bank of America's tracking shows the global average ship time for the iPhone 18 Pro at 14 days, down from 18 days for last year's iPhone 17 Pro at the same point, with the Pro Max dropping to 18 days from 25, and China the fastest market at 11 to 15 day waits for the two models, though BofA cautioned the metric is directional rather than directly comparable this year. Munster and technology analyst Dan Ives have both said Apple's price increases have caused minimal customer churn, giving the company room to keep raising prices without meaningfully denting demand. Apple's new foldable Duo launched at $1,999, below Wall Street's expectations of $2,099, while the 18 Pro and Pro Max prices rose by $100 each at this year's launch, the first major product event under new CEO John Ternus, and Apple delayed the base iPhone 18 and Air models to next year and pushed the Duo foldable launch to later in 2026.