Tariffs aren’t sending would-be buyers to Apple’s website
Perhaps consumers showed up in person at stores, but they didn’t throng to Apple.com.
While anecdotally Americans flocked to Apple stores to get new iPhones and other electronics ahead of tariffs that would drive up the price, they don’t seem to have rushed to the company’s website at all. US traffic to Apple.com looks pretty consistent in the days following President Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement as well as the tit-for-tat Chinese tariff raises that ensued, according to data from online measurement firm Similarweb.
Since the vast majority of iPhones are manufactured in China, prices were expected to rise significantly following the tariffs. Presumably consumers who were in the market for a new phone would have moved up their purchases to avoid those tariffs. (This data goes through Friday, before iPhones and other electronics were exempted from reciprocal tariffs and moved to sector-based tariffs.)
At least online, the drive for a bargain doesn’t seem to have outweighed general economic uncertainty, which keeps people from making big purchases, or other headwinds, like delays on AI features.
The most traffic Apple’s website has had recently was on the day of its Apple 16e event, when the company introduced a lower-cost AI phone. Typically, similar portions of iPhone buyers go through Apple’s retail store (8%) and website (5%), Q4 data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows. The vast majority of people buy their iPhones through carriers.
The Similarweb data tracks with findings from Counterpoint Research, published today by Reuters. “As per our current estimates, the tariff announcement did not lead to a major demand increase because of the uncertainty around tariffs and policy. Since Tariffs were announced in April, it did not impact iPhone demand in Q1 2025,” a Counterpoint analyst said.
