We continue to monitor iPhone availability (backorder by model, memory size, and color) in conjunction with our partnership with Wave7 Research.   A link to the PDF can be found at the end of the document

As most of you will recall, we had significant shortages of most models in the first weeks of sales (late Sept/ early October).  These shortages have continued with T-Mobile for the iPhone 11 and some of the larger memory sizes of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.  Given T-Mobile’s marketplace attraction, this is not too surprising, although continued shortages of the higher-end models (T-Mobile requires an up front payment on all sizes of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max) are a bit surprising.  We would attribute some of this to supply chain conservativeness, although that should have been alleviated by now.  In reality, it’s probably a combination of great sales, a robust economy, and supply chain conservatism.

What is very interesting is the higher likelihood of backorders at AT&T versus Verizon.  Both have long histories with Apple (especially AT&T) and neither tends to run a backorder deficit after 6+ weeks of sales (due to sheer size).  AT&T seems to be experiencing a larger number of upgrades (and, due to a higher mix of Apple devices vs Verizon, a small change in upgrade rate can impact total device volumes).

Bottom line:  T-Mobile’s backlog is primarily iPhone 11 and should be corrected by Thanksgiving.  No backlog at Verizon (no surprise given no 5G).  AT&T should continue to be watched very closely.

iPhone availability as of Nov 3

Link to PDF listing all three models is above.