Analysts at TF International Securities Group, headquartered in Hong Kong and offering a broad range of investment-related services, freshly sent a cautious note to its customers on weaker demand for the newest iPhone 16 Pro series. This highlighted the fragility of the whole segment so that Apple itself immediately slipped by nearly 2.8% in only one trading session on September 16, while iPhone components' suppliers as well as biggest assembler plants owners fell off and hurt even more badly.

Here are a few examples. Qorvo (QRVO), a 9.5 billion manufacturer of products for wireless, wired, and power markets, dropped by 6.68% to its 3-month lows. A smaller Cirrus Logic (CRUS) that specializes in analog and audio digital signal processing integrated circuits initially lost more than 10% intraday but later recovered to only a 6% shortage compared to the previous week's closing price. Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) hit the brake lights after wasting 5% of its nearly 15 billion of market caps to retest its price lows for August. Apple's bigger partners were more moderate in their price response to the news, yet Micron Technology (MU) lost another 4.4% in addition to its 40% correction since mid-June, when Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM) and Broadcom (AVGO) quite reluctantly shown smaller 2% decline from their high attitudes.

TF International Securities estimate said that pre-orders for the iPhone 16 totalled about 37 million units in the first weekend after the release, as much as 12.7% lower from the iPhone 15 level in the same period of its launching in 2023. The growing competition in China has been cited, of course, but also complemented by the current unavailability of Apple Intelligence feature for the iPhone 16 Pro, a major option which supposes to ignite iPhone fans' determination to buy the gadget.

The clarifying remark in the TF International Securities report was that "given the staggered launch of both Apple Intelligence across geographies and AI features... the mix data set is logical – Pro Max is modestly weaker vs. iPhone 15, Pro models are doing fairly well notably in China where they are competing with Huawei's new Mate X product". Beside this, iPhone 16 Pro demand will be potentially better in the U.S and U.K. as Apple Intelligence features are going to be more quickly available there. Higher sales may be finally achieved but delayed in other parts of the world, even though the whole iPhone 16 cycle could be successful further.

When strongly bullish positioning in Broadcom is hardly in jeopardy, Apple itself and its inner business circle may temporarily fall out of the crowd's favour. No one has cancelled a commonly used "buying dips" strategy for these stocks, especially concerning Apple, but it may be postponed at least for one or two weeks. A gradual rise in iPhone sales is rather expected as Apple Intelligence would be available for a rising number of its potential users. If so, $250+ target area for Apple stock is still on the table, but touching support levels between $200 and $210 before that is highly likely. Shares of other listed smaller firms may also face short-term challenges this autumn.