Until recently, Apple seems to have avoided the worst of the post-COVID tech chaos, mainly due to the iPhone's popularity. However, last year's disruptions in China significantly reduced production to the point that Apple released a rare press release on Nov 6th describing the setback. All of this left observers wondering: will this impact demand?
AlphaROC’s data suggests near-term demand has indeed been affected. Consumers have shifted upgrade plans to later in 2023, and this might very well stymie the iPhone 14 cycle. Thankfully, for Apple bulls, brand affinity remains incredibly strong, especially among the youngest (and richest) consumers, meaning long term trends remain strong.
Our data continuously tracks interest in iPhone upgrades; as such, we were paying close attention as China’s zero-COVID strategy publicly unraveled. Suffice to say, upgrade demand has in fact softened in the past few months.
While near term demand is affected, we also track longer term demand trends. Here, the picture is quite different: long term replacement demand has kept pace with historical norms. More impressively, the sheer influence Apple enjoys amongst its customer base, which has only grown since the pandemic, should carve out a formidable future.
While many companies can say they target the youth market, few have as much brand affinity as Apple. Less surprising is how much brand affinity Apple has with affluent customers – arguably the least recession prone. Shipment delays have done little to change any of that.
Ownership
The newest models of iPhone (iPhone 13 and 14) capture 28% of customers; however, the iPhone 14 cycle is tracking below the iPhone 13 (only 6-7% of users)
Purchasing
Young people have embraced Apple as one of the brands of their generation
Brand Loyalty
Throughout the pandemic and afterwards, fealty to Apple has amplified
Consumer Sentiment
Battery life remains the clincher, but strong interest in 5G speed and processing power hints that the tech-savvy consumer may be the future
Upgrade Cycle
Upgrade cycles waver from generation to generation. But people keep coming back
Upgrade Interest
Overall demand remains high - which means good things to come for future cycles
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