Oct 01 (CNN) - Apple had been counting on new artificial intelligence features to make the iPhone 16 a major hit. But pre–sale estimates point to a more muted early response than Apple had hoped.
Apple needed the iPhone 16 to be a big seller after years of sluggish iPhone sales. Long gone are the years when loyal Apple fans would line up to trade in their device on a near-annual basis, and the company hasn’t given consumers a big reason to upgrade since adding 5G connectivity with the iPhone 12. It’s been hoping that a suite of new software features that weave AI throughout would be a hit.
But despite several splashy launch events, it’s not clear if Apple has successfully made the case to consumers just yet.
Apple sold just an estimated 37 million units in the first weekend of iPhone 16 pre-sales, down more than 12% compared to the same period last year, according to a blog post from Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst with TF International Securities. In particular, demand for the higher priced iPhone 16 Pro devices were down sharply year-over-year compared with the iPhone 15 launch.
