Analyst claims iPhone 5 sales may be better than first perceived


Before its launch, the iPhone 5 was projected to reach first weekend sales as high as 10 million units by many analysts. However, after the opening weekend, Apple announced that 5 million units of the iPhone 5 had been sold. This number is not low in itself but it is still lower than analysts' prediction of the sale of at least 6 million units of the device in the worst case scenario. As per a recent report by Cnet, it now appears that analysts believe that iPhone sales could be higher than initially anticipated.

According to the report, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster stated that Apple iPhone sales in the third quarter of 2012 would not break the bank, but in fact may be higher than initially perceived. The analyst claims that this forecast is based on the strong number of non-iPhone 5 units sold by Apple that were activated by Verizon in the last quarter alone.

Apple poised to show strong iPhone sales in Q4 2012

The report went on to state that Verizon announced that it had activated 3.1 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 15 percent from the prior quarter and higher than Piper Jaffray's estimate of 2.5 million. A breakdown of these numbers shows that only 651,000 were for the iPhone 5. The report adds, “In an investors note out yesterday, Munster called those numbers "a positive read for Apple." Though he expects Apple's non-iPhone 5 sales to decline 35 percent from a year ago, he's pegging a drop of just 4 percent for total iPhone sales in the third quarter. As a result, the analyst is sticking with his forecast of 25 million iPhones sold last quarter.”

Looking at the fourth quarter results, Munster believes that Apple will see up to 49 million iPhone sales and that the demand for the iPhone 5 is expected to soar this quarter.

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the iPhone 5:
  • 4-inch, 326ppi Retina display at 1136 x 640 pixels,
  • GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, LTE and Wi-Fi
  • GPS
  • Bluetooth
  • 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording, 720p front-facing camera
  • 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions
There is wide speculation that Apple will release the iPhone 5 in India by the end of this month with various reports indicating that the launch date will be October 26, 2012.

Made entirely out of aluminium and glass, the iPhone 5 weighs 112 grams, and is 20 percent lighter than the iPhone 4S, and is the thinnest iPhone yet at 7.6mm. Apple has chosen to debut iOS 6 with the iPhone 5. The new OS includes Apple's own Maps app, an updated version of Siri and lots more. Overall, the new iPhone has been upgraded in almost all respects.

A recent report indicated that the pre-orders for the iPhone 5 will begin soon through official Apple resellers. As of yet, the exact price of the iPhone 5 is not known but it is believed to be similar to that of the iPhone 4S when it first launched in the market.


Report by: Aaron Almeida

0 comments:

Post a Comment