iPhone 8's Availability Is Tracking Better Than The iPhone 7, Munster Says

Former Apple Inc. AAPL analyst turned venture capitalist Gene Munster has some encouraging news for investors.

Proprietary checks of 190 different Apple stores across the U.S. show that 61 percent of iPhone 8 SKUs are in stock and available for consumers to purchase, the co-founder of Loup Ventures commented in a post. This marks an improvement from last year when the availability of iPhone 7 SKUs was measured at 20 percent and two years ago when the iPhone 6S SKUs measured 50 percent.

The increase in availability for the iPhone 8 could be attributed to two reasons, Munster said.

1. The current iPhone cycle is split between the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X.
2. The iPhone 8 and the iPhone 7 share several components and manufacturing, which improves its availability.

"The iPhone 8 is the best phone Apple has produced, but only incremental to the iPhone 7," Munster wrote. "The material differences between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 include a faster processor, faster charging and the ability to charge wirelessly."

However, checks also found that fewer people want to buy the iPhone 8 versus the iPhone 7, Munster added. But this isn't necessarily bad news as more people want to buy the higher end and higher priced iPhone X than previously expected.

As such, expectations for higher iPhone X sales bodes well for various metrics Apple will report to investors, including iPhone ASP (average selling price) and gross margins, Munster concluded. This could also result in "modest" upside to the Street's 2018 estimates by 1 to 3 percent.

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