On its first day of availability, Apple expects a strong demand for the iPhone 17. Its release date was Friday (Sept. 19), and they are now available for global launch in Apple Store locations, online, and the Apple Store app, the company said. The line features iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the newest edition of the iPhone lineup.
JPMorgan raised its Apple price target to $280 from $255, kept its Overweight rating, raised revenue and earnings per share estimates, and added Seeking Alpha on Friday, as analysts are seeing early demand signs showing that sales volumes will follow above their initial expectations.
“Driven by the better volume outlook, we’re now modeling iPhone [fiscal year 2026] volumes of 236 [million] — up only +2% [year-over-year], though this will, when taking into consideration mix tailwinds, we believe help drive mid- to high-single-digit iPhone revenue growth,” the analysts at JPMorgan said, according to the report.
Read Elsewhere in the report, Morgan Stanley said Wednesday (Sept. 17), “Lead time analysis reflects that initial demand for the iPhone 17 models appears to have outstripped that of the iPhone 16 cycle last year, which is a positive early indicator of stabilizing iPhone replacement cycles and improvement in upgrade rates.”
Apple started taking preorders for its new iPhone lineup on Sept. 12, and that same day, Chinese eCommerce site JD.com. According to CNBC, Friday, iPhone 17 had more units sold via com during the first minute of preorder than iPhone 16 sold in the first full day of that device being available. On Friday, JD. For the iPhone 17, there were four times as many trade-in sales compared to the same time last year, according to reports in.com
According to Le Xuan Chiew, Omdia’s research manager, preorder times and customer response also indicate good global demand for the new iPhone. Chipmakers have reportedly said the iPhone 17 base model—particularly cannibalized expectations. iPhone sales have been a bright spot for Apple during a period in which Wall Street has become impatient with the company’s progress in artificial intelligence, as reported in July.
