Hedge fund buys iPhone suppliers betting Apple will raise orders

Seoul: A hedge fund is buying shares of Apple Inc. suppliers on an expected increase in orders of parts for the iPhone 11 Pro.

“Based on our supply chain data, we believe orders for iPhone 11 Pro for suppliers will be revised up,” Narci Chang, a Taiwan-based portfolio manager at Timefolio Asset Management SG Pvt, said in a telephone interview. “I think that is going to be very encouraging for entire supply chain.”

Based on this supplier data, the former JPMorgan analyst estimates total shipments for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max of 72 million to 73 million units, higher than some market expectations of around 70 million units.

Timefolio, whose Singapore branch manages assets of about $100 million, has been buying shares of Apple suppliers since the launch event for the new iPhone models earlier this month, Chang said.

The initial demand for the iPhone 11 appeared to be “off to a good start,” Nomura Instinet said, citing early pre-order data last week. Rosenblatt Securities Inc. said it was seeing “some new model production increases for September and October for the new iPhone models”. Still, some experts have warned that Apple could see a bigger-than-expected decline in the average selling price for the iPhone as consumers gravitate toward cheaper models.