Despite the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, U.S. Fed rate cuts, and a looming U.S. presidential election, Apple remains poised for historic sales of its iPhone in the next fiscal year.
According to at least one prominent Wall Street analyst, demand for 5G-capable iPhones on top of demand for Apple’s robust ecosystem of devices and services could see the company moving more than the unit sales record of 231 million units set in 2015.
Daniel Howley for Yahoo Finance:
“To this point, taking a step back while the last few weeks has been an exogenous ‘shock event’ to Apple’s ecosystem on both the supply and demand side due to its China exposure, we believe this will be short lived as the longer term 5G super cycle thesis and services re-rating remain the crux of our bull thesis on Apple for the next 12 to 18 months,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note on Tuesday.
Despite the potential impact of the coronavirus on Apple’s Q2 and Q3, Ives says the company will be fine in the long run, especially as the iPhone 12 hits the market in September and October.
“While the supply chain issues and China demand shift are near-term fundamental headwinds, our primary focus is that the first part of this massive upgrade opportunity on the horizon with 5G leading the way should still be in the 215 million to 220 million unit range looking out to FY21,” Ives wrote in his note. In an upside scenario, Ives wrote, the company could ship 231 million phones in 2021, which would be a record for Apple.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Apple is poised for historic iPhone sales. The 5G-capable iPhones will mark the beginning of a multi-year super cycle!
Just as iPhone this year is all about the camera, next year will be all about 5G. Get ready for the Mother of All iPhone Super Cycles! — MacDailyNews, December 23, 2019
Many outsiders and the public alike think Apple will release the 5G lineup already this year which by all indications will not happen. We know that 5G phones will have little access to the new technology in the overwhelmingly greatest part of the world, still most care only for the hype. My guess is Apples lack for 5G support will be a disappointment and hurt sales during 2020.