Breaking: Apple Will Probably Sell a Lot of iPhones
As iPhone predictions go, this one from Brian White at Ticonderoga Securities is a pretty safe bet: Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone will “shatter” the company’s previous smartphone sales records.
According to White, bottled-up demand for the device is so high right now that it will blow the doors off the first weekend sales record set by the iPhone 4.
“We believe Apple will benefit from pent up demand and will shatter the 1.7 million iPhone 4’s sold in the first three days last year,” White said in a note to clients Monday. “Additionally, the iPhone is now sold to a record number of carriers (228 carriers at end of 3QFY11 vs. 154 at end of 3QFY10 during the iPhone 4 launch) and can operate on CDMA networks, and we believe China will play a more important role as well. We also expect Apple to be more aggressive in rolling out the iPhone 5 to international markets during this launch versus prior years, similar to what was experienced with the iPad 2.”
Reasonable, if not entirely obvious expectations. Apple sells more iPhones with each successive iteration, and given the delay that’s preceded this one and the addition of Sprint as a third carrier, it’s certain to sell a hell of a lot more this time around.
What’s less certain is White’s prediction that Apple plans to uncrate a totally redesigned iPhone tomorrow, one with a larger display and “a sleek, aluminum unibody enclosure that more closely resembles the MacBook Air than the iPhone 4.” That’s a bit more of a stretch considering mounting evidence that suggests the fifth generation iPhone will be similar in design to its predecessor.
