Prediction: 1.2 Million iPads Sold in June Quarter and a New iPhone Form Factor
This is, perhaps, stating the obvious, but 2010 is likely to be a big year for Apple. With the iPad set to arrive April 3 and the company presumably headed into an iPhone upgrade cycle, Apple is poised to move a lot of product in the coming months. That’s the word from Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes, who is quite bullish about Apple’s prospects.
“iPad yields should improve dramatically throughout the year even if the launch starts out capacity constrained,” Reitzes wrote in a research note to clients today. “These developments support upside to consensus forecasts for the iPad, should demand materialize like we think it can. We estimate Apple will sell almost 5 million iPads for CY10; including 1.2 million in the June quarter–which could prove conservative.”
As for the iPhone, the analyst says, “Also, we have increased confidence that Apple will make a big splash this summer with a new iPhone form factor. We believe that the new model will launch with considerable fanfare and expect unit expectations to rise in turn.”
“Big splash,” “considerable fanfare”: That’s certainly been the case with iPhone launches to date. No reason to expect things will be any different this time around.
As for iPad sales, there’s really no telling yet, though “people familiar with the matter” have told The Wall Street Journal that Apple has sold hundreds of thousands of units via pre-order and could end up selling more iPads in the first three months than it sold iPhones in the three months after that device’s debut.