Apple sold more than 40 million iPhone 13 units over the holiday period, which was a record number for the Cupertino firm. It did this despite worldwide chip shortages.
While demand for iPhone 13 models had been expected to slow a bit during the holiday season, in a new note to investors shared by MacRumors, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said demand remained strong for the current iPhone cycle going into 2022.
Ives said demand outstripped supply by roughly 12 million units in the December quarter. Apple hopes to see supply issues resolve themselves in the first half of the year. Ives says China has been a major source of strength for Apple over the last year or so.
Ives estimates that 230 million of 975 million iPhone users worldwide haven’t upgraded in the last three and a half years, and the analyst sees Apple’s continuing to do well in smartphone sales, as excitement builds for Apple’s long-awaited AR/VR headset, which could be announced during WWDC 2022.