By Senad Karaahmetovic
Wedbush analysts believe demand for iPhone 14 is “way ahead” of supply with elevated lead times for high-end models like iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Major shortages are developing for the upcoming Black Friday weekend as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) struggles to increase supply to meet “strong” iPhone demand.
It has been widely reported this morning that major protests erupted at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in the city of Zhengzhou in China, operated by Apple’s major supplier Foxconn. Apple previously warned that it is experiencing major supply issues amid China’s controversial Covid-zero policy.
“Many Apple stores and retailers are low on iPhone 14 inventory across the board as we believe for Black Friday weekend roughly 8 million iPhones will be sold down from 10 million in the year ago period with the gap being mostly supply driven,” Wedbush said in a client note.
Recent checks showed that it is getting more and more difficult to “get your hands on an iPhone 14 Pro with many delivery times likely pushed through to early January.”
“While the Zhengzhou and Foxconn situation in China remains an ongoing albatross for Apple, our positive thesis on the demand story during this economic dark storm for Apple remains unchanged and would be buyers of the name with the demand thesis holding firm in this economic storm,” the analysts added.
Wedbush has an Outperform rating and a $200 per share price target on Apple stock.