iPhone 16 share trailing last cycle, perhaps due to low awareness of AI: JP Morgan

Investment firm J.P. Morgan said the latest survey from Wave7 Research shows that Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 16 is trailing market share when compared to last cycle, perhaps due to low awareness of Apple Intelligence.

Shares were little changed in premarket trading on Wednesday.

“Recent surveys from Wave7 Research into US sales trends across various carriers in Oct/Nov-24 highlight that average share for iPhone 16 cycle continues to track lower y/y (relative to share for iPhone 15 in the same period) despite better than seasonal trends in the latest month of survey data,” J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a note to clients. “The survey highlights that the lower momentum, reflected in the lower market share y/y, is likely led by the (still) lower consumer awareness for Apple Intelligence, despite expectations for the feature set to be a key driver for an upgrade cycle.”

Chatterjee has an Overweight rating on Apple shares.

Other takeaways from the survey

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is the leading seller across all carriers (with a 19% share in October and November), while the iPhone 16 Plus has the lowest share, at roughly 7%. The iPhone 16 Pro and base model iPhone 16 had average shares of 17% and 16%, respectively.

Awareness of Apple Intelligence is not widespread, with 67% of users said to have “low” awareness, while 24% indicated a “medium” level of awareness. Only 10% of respondents indicated a “high” level of awareness.

Lastly, store representatives that were surveyed believe that the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max trails Samsung’s S24 Ultra in terms of camera quality.