As we’ve been reporting over the past few days, the iPhone 5 is selling like hotcakes / lemonade / gangbusters. Whether it’s technology enthusiasts, bloggers, cellular networks, or Apple itself, no one expected 2 million pre-orders in under 24 hours; it is an unmatched number in the smartphone industry. Now, the question is: will the iPhone 5 continue its momentum through the launch weekend, and further through the quarter?
According to multiple analysts, the answer is a resounding “yes!” Details after the jump.
We’ll be discussing notes from two analysts: Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray, and Shaw Wu from Sterne Agee.
Yesterday, Munster published a report in which he predicts that Apple will sell between 6 to 10 million iPhone 5 units in its launch weekend; using 8 million as a mid value. He cites two reasons for this. Firstly, the 100% increase in pre-orders for iPhone 5 (2 million) over iPhone 4S (1 million), and secondly, the fact that pre-orders made up 25% of total launch weekend sales for iPhone 4S last year, so they may translate into a similar figure for the iPhone 5 this year.
I’m not a professional analyst, but the way things are going, sales of around 8 million units seem realistic.
Wu from Sterne Agee looks beyond the launch weekend by predicting that sales of all iPhones will reach a whopping 46.5 million in the first quarter of 2013 (October 2012 – December 2012). With iPhone 5 selling out twice as fast as the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 / 4S still being in demand, and Apple’s record breaking sales of 37 million iPhones in Q1 2012, this looks very much possible. In addition to this, Wu is of the opinion that Apple will sell 27 million iPhones in Q4 2011 – the current quarter.
The word around the technology blogosphere may be that the iPhone is a disappointment, but the fact is, an overwhelming majority of smartphone owners do not follow the rumor mill or follow media events as they get covered in blow-by-blow detail. They just see Apple announcing a new phone with a larger display, faster internals, improved design, support for super-fast 4G LTE and buy it because it’s the next “big thing”.
What about our readers? Are you folks upgrading to the iPhone 5? What about people you know? Let us know in the comments section over on our Facebook and Google+ page.
(via AppleInsider, MacRumors)
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