Analyst: Don't Worry About Any Possible iPhone 8 Delay

Robert Cihra from Guggenheim has a message for Apple stockholders, buyers, and pundits: “quit worrying” about a possible delay for the company’s next flagship device. Instead, he suggests a “short-lived” iPhone 8 delay will have no bearing on the company’s stock or iPhone sales.

In a new note to investors, the analyst says Apple won’t lose iPhone sales were it to delay the handset’s launch past the traditional September or October timeframe. Instead, sales will only be pushed until the beginning of the company’s 2018 fiscal year.

Regardless, Cihra still believes Apple’s holiday quarter will be its biggest in three years.

As AppleInsider explains:

The firm believes that greater than 40 percent of the current install base that exceeds 700 million are now greater than two years old, more than double the number that were during the 2014 launch of the iPhone 6.

Also working to Apple’s advantage: The iPhone 8 will be priced greater than the other two 2017 handsets, the so-called “iPhone 7s” and “iPhone 7s Plus.”

The company believes that the “iPhone 8” could exceed the selling price of the “iPhone 7s” by up to $400. Cihra believes that the price jump will not be that significant, and notes that the original iPhone was also viewed as too expensive by analysts when it launched in 2007 at $499 with an AT&T contract required and attached carrier subsidies paid to Apple.

As AppAdvice has reported for months, Apple continues having problems embedding  Touch ID into the iPhone 8’s OLED screen. As a result, the company will either be forced to move the feature to the back of the device or delay its launch.

Although I’d like to see my shiny new iPhone 8 arrive in September, I’m willing to wait. What about you?