iPhone... Galaxy...des chiffres

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster has been regularly surveying pricing trends for Apple’s  iPhone models and has another update out today, showing a decline in the availability of the 5s model, ahead its launch in additional markets, and resale pricing trends that he believes points to stronger demand for that model over Samsung Electronics’  Galaxy S4.

His check of 60 U.S. Apple stores in the past week has shown 5s availability decreasing from 27% of total SKU’s available two weeks ago to 6% over the past week, while the percentage of stores that had at least one SKU more than halved, from 90% to 40%. Munster attributes the tightening supply to Apple’s launch of the iPhone in 25 new countries in two weeks, a favorable sign in his book.

Here is his data comparing the iPhone 5S, and 5C pricing to the Galaxy S4: “We compared the resale value of the iPhone 5S and 5C three weeks after launch to Galaxy S4 three weeks after its launch back in May 2013. In the U.S. the iPhone 5S sells at a 32% premium, 5C 12% discount, and Galaxy S4 sold at a 12% discount. In China the iPhone 5S sells at a 10% discount, 5C 26% discount, and Galaxy S4 sold at a 26% discount. We believe that resale pricing gives a directional indication of demand and suggests favorable demand for the iPhone 5S and inline demand for the 5C.”

Munster thinks that the this pricing data shows that, at similar points in their product cycles, the iPhone  has enjoyed better demand in the U.S. and China. “We expect iPhone aftermarket prices should decrease as 5S supply catches up to demand and would consider the 5S fully stocked when the 5S is available to ship in a 24 hour lead time. Currently Apple’s online store quotes iPhone 5S October lead times in Apple’s 6 largest countries, and 24 hours for the 5C.