As a reminder, we declared the Apple iPhone 17 Pro generally available on Nov 22. Sales have been strong for the iPhone 17 Pro across each carrier with spot shortages in certain regions (usually remedied in 1-2 days). We have included the charts (which show one memory size/ color backlogged) in the PDF at the end of this post.
Our focus this week is on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The good news is that the lowest memory size (256 GB) is generally in stock across each carrier. After that point, there are shortages with memory sizes/ colors. In week five or six after launch, this would be normal. We are entering the twelfth week after launch, however – we have not seen spot shortages like this since 2021-2022.
We attribute this to a subset of loyal Apple customers who want to upgrade their devices to the iPhone 17 Pro Max (likely due to camera improvements) and who purchased 512GB or 1TB devices previously. There could be slightly more business upgrades occurring as well. As we have said in previous posts, it does not take a lot of volume to have certain memory size/ color shortages, and it does not seem to be persistent (the restocking intervals are surprising, however).
Bottom line: Last-minute purchasers might be surprised if they expect general availability of iPhone 17 Pro Max sizes larger than 256 GB.
File is below. We will continue with a report focused on the iPhone 17 Pro Max next week. Please direct any questions or comments to [email protected].
