Where Will Apple Stock Be in 3 Years?

(NASDAQ: AAPL) is the world's most valuable company, with a market capitalization of almost $3.3 trillion. The popularity of the company's iPhones played a central role in helping the tech giant reach this position. So it was not surprising to see Apple stock drop in price after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo pointed out that the demand for the company's latest iPhones is not as strong as expected.

Kuo estimates that pre-orders of Apple's latest iPhone 16 models are down nearly 13% year over year, with the first weekend's sales estimated to come in at 37 million units. Apple touted this latest model as a significant change over previous iPhones because it's the first to be artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled. But some doubters wonder if it was introduced too late. Samsung leads the generative AI smartphone market with a share of 36%, according to industry estimates, while Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi and Huawei control 22% and 13% share of this market, respectively.

Kuo's report of lower pre-orders offers potential evidence that the doubters are right and it's a cause for concern. However, a closer look at the reasons behind the reportedly poor start of the iPhone 16 lineup indicates that investors shouldn't panic. It won't be surprising to see Apple's AI-enabled iPhones gradually gain sales momentum and help the stock deliver healthy gains over the next three years.

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Source Fool.com