Maybe the tech pundits found Apple’s new iPhone 5 “boring”, but now the market analysts, and yes, the customers get to weigh in, as the iPhone 5 goes on sale this Friday, and it looks like we’ll see record-setting sales numbers for Apple’s shiny new “precious”.
“Given that the iPhone 4S received over 1 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours, we expect at least 1.3 million to 1.5 million pre-orders for the iPhone 5,” says Topeka analyst Brian White. “Assuming supply chain constraints aren’t a major issue and the seven country rollout ensues, we believe at least 5 million to 5.5 million iPhone 5’s can be sold in [the first three days].”
Tavis McCourt of Raymond James offered a similar first-weekend sales estimate. “Apple sold four million iPhone 4Ss in the first weekend of availability last year, and the iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million,” McCourt told AllThingsD. “We expect five million to six million to be a reasonable estimate of first-weekend sales for the iPhone 5.”
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster weighed in with the most bullish estimate by far, saying he sees Apple selling 6 to 10 million new iPhones in the handsets first three days on the market. “There is no question iPhone 5 will be the largest consumer electronics launch in history,” Munster said.
AppleInsider reports:
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee raised his December quarter forecast for iPhone sales by 500,000 units in a note to investors on Monday. He believes Apple could sell even more than 46.5 million units, but he has heard from sources in Apple’s supply chain that company may face production constraints of the iPhone 5 due to its use of new in-cell touch panels.
Wu says he expects record shattering sales as he views the iPhone 5 as a “significant update” that “will drive a powerful product cycle.” His remarks are in contrast to some in the press who have said the iPhone 5 is a “disappointing” and “minor” update.
If Apple sells 46.5 million iPhone 5’s in the December quarter as Wu forecasts, it would be a new record for iPhone sales in the holiday shopping season. The previous best quarter came at the end of 2011, when Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones.
Wu believes that for the current quarter, which concludes at the end of this month, Apple will sell a total of 27 million iPhones.
