'Desert Titanium' most popular color in iPhone 16 Pro preorder sale

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Three major telecom service providers in Taiwan said Saturday that "Desert Titanium" is the most popular color in their iPhone 16 Pro preorder sale, which started at 8 p.m. on Friday.

The three telecom operators -- Chunghwa Telecom Co., Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. and Taiwan Mobile Co. -- said the Desert Titanium color was the most popular among those ordering the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models.

Apple Inc. unveiled the newest iPhone 16 series worldwide on Monday. The four models, the 6.1-inch iPhone 16, the 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus, the 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro and the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max, will hit the stores in Taiwan on Sept. 20.

The flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in four colors: White Titanium, Black Titanium, Natural Titanium and Desert Titanium. The Desert Titanium color is new and replaced the Blue Titanium color of the iPhone 15 Pro models a year earlier.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in Black, White, Pink, Teal and Ultramarine.

It is the first iPhone lineup equipped with Apple Intelligence, an artificial intelligence application introduced at Apple's 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The cost of the iPhone 16 series is the same as the iPhone 15 models introduced in 2023, despite the new phone series featuring added AI functionality.

Prices for the iPhone 16 start at NT$29,900 (US$935), while the iPhone 16 Pro's starting price has been set at NT$32,900. The high-end iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max costs NT$36,900 and NT$44,900, respectively.

Taiwan Mobile said with product prices unchanged from a year earlier, the iPhone preorder sale volume was almost 20 percent higher than the iPhone 15s. The iPhone 16 Pro Max accounted for about 40 percent of sales.

Taiwan Mobile noted that along with Desert Titanium being the most popular among the iPhone 16 Pro series in its preorder sale, Pink was the most in-demand of the iPhone 16 series.

Echoing Taiwan Mobile, Far Eastone said soon after its preorder sale started Friday, traffic volume on its website soared about 800 percent. In 60 minutes, its iPhone 16 preorder sale products were sold out.

Chunghwa Telecom said it held its preorder sale between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. that day. The limited number of iPhone 16s sold out in five minutes.

Citing a survey, Chunghwa Telecom said 80 percent of Apple customers chose the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. After Desert Titanium, White Titanium and Black Titanium were the most popular.

As for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, the survey found, the Ultramarine color was most liked.

A source in the distribution network said the first shipment to Taiwan will include 200,000 phones, with more iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus units.

The source said the iPhone 16 Pro Max will initially be in short supply.