Is iPhone 4S about to become smartphone’s high king? Well, analysts certainly seem to think so.
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| iPhone mania continues unabated, analysts believe. |
Brian White from Ticonderoga Securities says his ‘Apple Barometer’ has gone into overdrive, suggesting the Mac maker enjoyed a “record” December sales boom, as the iPhone 4S (Siri) and new Apple Mac’s went into full flight mode.
“The Apple Barometer delivered the biggest [month-over-month] growth for December that we have on record, and the first December where sales increased month-over-month,” White said in a investor note.
The ‘barometer’ measures the business of Asian suppliers that provide components for Apple products and showed sales of third party suppliers hiked 9.45% last month, reports Macworld Australia.
The crucial and highly lucrative December sales period could mean the darling of consumerism, Apple, sold as many as 5.2m Macs, almost 30m iPhones, and 10.9m iPads, in its October-December quarter end, White believes.
These figures, if come to pass, will mark phenomonal quarter-on-quarter growth for the now Steve Jobs-less Cupertino, and may have sold over 10 million more iPhone’s and possibly several million additional iPad’s, a major boon for the reigning tablet, considering it did not release any new model since last March.
iPad 3 is tipped to arrive March 2012.
Read iPad ‘3’ HD: Super Speeds, 4G….And Cheaper? Here
Last quarter, Apple sold 17.07m iPhones, 11.12m iPads and under 5 million Macs.
Cupertino are to release its Q1 2012 figures next Tuesday, which have many industry watchers looking to see if Apple managed to knock bitter smartphone (and tab rival) Samsung off the No.1 spot, which it claimed for itself last month.
However, if White’s predictions are correct, Samsung are safe from Apple – as the iPhone’s 30m figure falls under the 32m smartphones including Galaxy S II flagship, analysts believe Samsung flogged in the fourth quarter.
The Koreans do not release exact sales figures so it will be up to analysts like Gartner, IDC & Co to have the final say on who’s the new high king of smartphones (and tabs).
And others are predicting higher numbers than White – with analyst Brian Marshall of International Strategy & Investment Group predicting as many as 32m iPhones were sold – equal to that of its Korean Galaxy rival.
On the iPad front, Wall Street insiders are citing anything from 11.73m -19.47m iPad unit sales, although the consensus hovers around 13.5m for the quarter.
Either way, expect “blowout” results come Tuesday.
For more (self-divulged) dirt on Cupertino’s third party suppliers, read: Apple Reveal Suppliers In Bid To Improve Work Conditions
