Apple surprised by the strong demand for this 5G phone

You might assume that Apple executives like Tim Cook have seen it all and nothing surprises them anymore. Yet, a new report from Digitimes indicates that Apple didn't see the popularity of the iPhone 12 Pro coming. According to TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 12 Pro has been selling better than expected. How do we know this? Apple had to get suppliers to extend delivery lead times to make sure that it can keep the phone in stock. The company thought that the cheaper iPhone 12, priced at $799 and up, would outsell the iPhone 12 Pro. The latter is priced at $999 and up.

Sources have told Digitimes that Apple is also about to order additional VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser) chips and that action means a lot. These chips are used to help the LiDAR sensor send out light beams that bounce off of a subject and return to the phone. The length of time that it takes for this to occur can help an iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max compute more precise depth information for AR and to deliver improved bokeh blurs in Portrait mode.

The LiDAR sensor, first seen on the latest iPad Pro models, is limited to the iPhone 12 Pro series. That means that since the only iPhone 12 version Pro currently available is the iPhone 12 Pro, the increase in VCSEL orders means that demand for this particular model is better than expected.

Kuo forecasts that once all four models are released (the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available for pre-orders on November 6th and both will launch on November 13th), the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will split 30-35% of total orders while the iPhone 12 Pro Max will account for 15-20% of sales. The iPhone 12 mini will be responsible for the remaining 10-15% of sales made of the first 5G iPhone series.