Shares of Apple suppliers ride high after strong iPhone X demand
- Apple suppliers globally are witnessing a boost in their share price
- Demand for the new iPhone X is claimed to be "off the charts"
- Munster tells CNBC that iPhone X crucial to Apple performance over next year
Apple component suppliers have witnessed a surge in their stock price after the tech giant claimed pre-orders for the 10th anniversary iPhone X were "off the charts."
Shortly after the open of European trade Monday, Anglo-German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor was top of Europe's Stoxx 600 index, rising 6.5 percent.
Another strong performer was Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics, which rose more than 3.5 percent in early trade. ST Micro is enjoying increased demand for new sensors that analysts widely believe Apple is using in its latest iPhones.
Austria Microsystems (AMS) is another stock doing well, up nearly 3 percent in morning trade. AMS supplies smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung with optical sensors that adjust brightness and colors on screens.
Asian component suppliers had also moved higher overnight. iPhone assembler and chip-maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were among those attracting strong investor attention.
At the U.S. open Monday shares in Apple itself opened 1.6 percent higher.
On Friday, Apple sought to reassure industry watchers and shareholders that the iPhone X's hefty $999 price tag would not put people off buying the new device.
"We can see from the initial response, customer demand is off the charts," an Apple spokeswoman
Shortly after the iPhone X went on sale Friday, delivery times had pushed out to as long as six weeks.
In a special commentary for CNBC, top tech analyst Gene Munster said Apple's success over the next year will depend heavily on how the iPhone X fares.
Munster said he thinks many consumers will upgrade to the new product, allowing the extra cost to be factored into instalment plans.
He said his firm, Loup Ventures, has now raised its estimate on the iPhone average selling price to $740 for the fiscal year 2018.