hello. Technologytodaynow. Recently, iPhone hoarding has been happening in the U.S. Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening.
U.S.-China tariff war and concerns over iPhone 16 prices
When the U.S. imposed mutual tariffs, China responded with retaliatory tariffs. This led the U.S. to impose an additional 50% tariff, bringing the total tariff rate on iPhones produced in China to a whopping 104%. This has led consumers to worry about the iPhone 16, which costs more than 5 million won instead of the iPhone that costs 3.65 million won.
The iPhone 16 hoarding phenomenon is also occurring
Because much of the iPhone’s sales come from the U.S., iPhone sales in the U.S. would drop significantly if the burden of tariffs were solely passed on to U.S. consumers. So, while the impact of tariffs is likely to be on global consumers, it will still be the U.S. consumers who are hit the hardest. Panic buying is happening among U.S. consumers due to anxiety that iPhone prices may rise significantly. According to Bloomberg, iPhone purchases are surging in interviews with Apple Store employees over concerns about price hikes due to tariffs.
U.S. Consumers Rush to Buy iPhone 16
According to reports, even before the new tariffs were announced on April 9, American consumers were rushing to buy iPhones due to concerns about the price hike. According to an Apple store employee who spoke to Bloomberg, most of the customers who visited the store were asking about the price increase of the iPhone, which caused the Apple Store to be crowded with customers who were rushing to buy the iPhone. The current congestion at the Apple Store is similar to the peak holiday season when demand for iPhones is high, and sales are higher than at any April in the past few years.
Apple set out to secure supplies
According to a report by The Times of India, Apple is flying five planes from India and China and shipping them to the U.S. quickly in order to stock the products to be sold in the U.S. It is unclear how much inventory will be available, but no iPhone price increases are expected in the short term. Even so, consumers’ worries about whether it is better to buy the iPhone 16 quickly, get a tariff exemption for the protection of its own companies, or negotiate a dramatic tariff deal.
Apple is also preparing many changes, such as reorganizing the iPhone 17 series lineup with design changes for the Pro model and the release of a new Air model, but the situation is becoming more complicated. It seems that there will be no price increase yet, but since we do not know how the international situation will flow, we recommend that those who are planning to purchase an iPhone check the inventory at a nearby Apple Store and purchase it quickly.