SAN FRANCISCO: Not even Chief Executive Tim Cook singing “Sweet Home Alabama” on Carpool Karaoke could get Wall Street excited about the launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone 7.

The new iPhone, which features a high-resolution camera and the option of a jet-black glossy finish but notably lacks the traditional analogue headphone jack, is not revolutionary, analysts said.

“Overall, we thought that the phone was an improvement over previous models, but not a game changer that will reignite a significant upgrade cycle,” Deutsche Bank analyst Sherri Scribner wrote in a note.

Apple shares, which closed up 0.6 per cent on Wednesday when the new phones were launched, were down more than 2pc at $106.04 in morning trading on Thursday. They had closed down nearly 2pc last year on the day the 6s and 6s Plus were unveiled.

The iPhone 7 is priced at $649, the same as its predecessor, the 6s. The larger iPhone 7 Plus edition will retail for $769 — $20 more than the iPhone 6s Plus — and will feature two cameras, including a telephoto lens.

Wells Fargo expects Apple to sell between 14-15 million of the new iPhones in the first weekend as the phones will be released in more countries that in previous years. The company sold more than 13m of the 6s and 6s Plus phones in the first weekend after their launch last year.

The new phones will start shipping in major markets, including the United States and China, on Sept 16. That would give Apple 14 days of sales this quarter, compared with two days for the iPhone 6s in the year-ago quarter.

The company said on Thursday it will not release first-weekend iPhone sales data, saying the number was more a reflection of supply than demand.

IPhone sales account for more than half of Apple’s revenue.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2016