Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster said Monday that Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 18 pre-order wait times have climbed sharply since the weekend, a trend he calls an early, favorable signal of demand across major markets worldwide.
Longer Lead Time a Favorable Sign
In a post on X, Munster said that average lead times across eight countries reached 2.6 weeks three days into pre-orders, up from 1.6 weeks the day before, matching where Pro models stood at this point last year.
He said part of the increase reflects a shift in pre-orders from Friday to Saturday, which put more buyers online at once.
“The important part is lead times are going up, which has historically been a favorable sign for demand,” he added.
BofA Sees a Similar, If More Cautious, Signal
Bank of America’s tracking shows the global average ship time for the iPhone 18 Pro at 14 days, down from 18 days for last year’s iPhone 17 Pro at the same point, with the Pro Max dropping to 18 days from 25.
China is the fastest market, with 11 to 15 day waits for the two models.
BofA cautioned that the metric is “directional rather than directly comparable” this year, since several factors could be shortening wait times without reflecting stronger demand.
Do Rising Prices Threaten Demand?
Munster and technology analyst Dan Ives have both said Apple’s price increases have caused minimal customer churn, giving the company room to keep raising prices without meaningfully denting demand.
Apple’s new foldable Duo launched at $1,999, below Wall Street’s expectations of $2,099, while the 18 Pro and Pro Max prices rose by $100 each at this year’s launch at the first major product event under new CEO John Ternus.
Apple delayed the base iPhone 18 and Air models to next year and pushed the Duo foldable launch to later in 2026.
Price Action: Shares climbed 0.24% on Monday to close at $333.08 and fell 0.26% in extended trading.
Benzinga Edge Rankings indicate Apple’s stock has a Momentum score in the 88th percentile and a Growth score in the 40th percentile.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Apple
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