Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty told investors in a recent note that Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may boost Apple’s holiday quarter sales to record levels. Huberty also expects strong Mac sales for the quarter.
In line with other analyst predictions, Huberty and her team expect iPhone sales in the December holiday quarter to reach as high as 69 million units, eclipsing last year’s quarterly record of 51 million units sold in Q1 2014.
Hubert says IDC’s estimate of 5.8 million Macs sold in Apple’s Q1 2015 (Q4 2014 calendar year) should be about right, but on the downside, we should see year-over-year demand for the iPad to remain weak, with 22 million units sold in the quarter, down slightly from the 26 million in the same quarter in 2014.
Huberty also predicts Apple is on the verge of a “super” iPhone upgrade cycle, which should see an increased number of iPhone owners upgrading to new models. Morgan Stanley’s own Alphawise survey suggests that 35 percent of iPhone users have an iPhone 4S or older, making them prime candidates to upgrade to a new handset sometime in the next two years.
Huberty also predicts strong demand for the Apple Watch, with 3 million units shipped in the first quarter of availability. The wearable should be popular with iPhone owners, with sales possibly tallying 30 million units in 2015.
Apple will announce their Q1 2015 (fourth quarter 2014 calendar year) financial results on Tuesday, Jan. 27. The earnings statement should be released around 1:30PM Pacific/4:30PM Eastern time, with a conference call to follow at 2:00PM Pacific/5:00PM Eastern time. As usual, MacTrast will cover the numbers and will report them to you as they are available.
