Furnished with growing evidence that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is placing massive orders for its 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 smartphones, analysts and investment firms are beginning to amp up their own expectations as well. RBC Capital Markets has gone so bullish over the Cupertino firm’s prospects that they could probably be coaxed to even more optimistic pronouncements if Tim Cook were to wave a red cape.
According to analyst Amit Daryanani, as many as 10 million individual iPhones could be sold by the end of the weekend following the iPhone 6’s September 19th launch. This high figure is probably due to the flurry of upgrade purchases expected due to Apple (AAPL) offering larger screen on its iPhones for the first time in its history. Large screens are indeed a current fad, so this seems a reasonable inference.
Mr. Daryanani is not quite that optimistic himself, though he is also bullish about Apple’s prospects through the end of 2014. However, he notes the possibility that 15 million iPhone 6s will be sold by the end of September, and that 60 million more could fly off the shelf during the next three months after that. If this proves correct, then total sales of the new Apple smartphone could reach or exceed 75 million units by the time the ball drops in Times Square at the start of 2015.
Such a number of sales would represent a vast cash windfall for Apple, and would beat Q4 2013’s previous record of 51 million iPhones sold quite handily. Since Apple has apparently ordered a total production run of 80 million iPhones through December 31st, 2015, the company appears to believe it can sell this many phones as well.
This, of course, does not include any positive impact on the company’s bottom line produced by the release of the iWatch, a much-disputed product which may be a dark horse or a miscalculated flop, depending on which expert guesses are correct. If it is remarkable enough, the wearable could cause an even bigger uptick in profits and share value, or it could be a mere anthill beside the mountainous success that will probably accrue to the iPhone 6.
Many investors are undoubtedly going long on Apple stock at the moment, and such a strategy appears amply justified by the Cupertino tech giant’s near-term prospects. A good product lineup for 2015 could keep the momentum rolling well into next year also.
