Updated: Piper Jaffray Analyst Expects Apple To Sell 5-6 Million iPhones This Weekend
by Joe White
September 19, 2013
See update below.
Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster has noted that he expects Apple to sell between 5 and 6 million iPhone handsets this weekend.
More specifically, Munster anticipates that between 2 and 3 million iPhone 5s handsets could reach customers in-store. He bases this on last year's iPhone 5 sales, which saw roughly 3 million units of the sixth-generation smartphone sold in Apple Retail Stores across the globe.
In a report to investors (which reached us from AppleInsider), Munster said:
Given last year's in-store sales numbers, we are comfortable that Apple could sell 2.5 million iPhone 5s units this launch weekend. Our estimate for the 5c is 3 million units sold during the launch weekend including 1 million online pre-orders and 2 million in stores.Furthermore, Munster indeed believes that iPhone 5s supply will unfortunately be "constrained," and adds that he expects between 10 and 15 percent of the weekend's 5-6 million iPhone sales to be made in China. Apple's iPhone 5 was sold out in most Apple Stores and retailers by Saturday, last year. It'll be interesting to see how the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c perform this year. As a reminder, Apple Stores and most U.S. retailers are set to offer Apple's new iPhones from 8 a.m. local time on Friday, Sept. 20. Online orders are expected to become available from 12:01 a.m. PDT. Update. KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo estimates weekend iPhone sales of up to 8 million, with the iPhone 5s accounting for between 35 and 40 percent. Of course, this is all educated guesswork; we'll keep you updated with further information as we receive it. See also: Extra! Extra! Official New York Times And Huffington Post Apps Get iOS 7 Updates, Untethered Jailbreak For iOS 6.1.3, iOS 6.1.4 Appears In New Video, and BBM For All: BlackBerry Messenger Confirmed To Launch On iOS This Weekend.