Submitted by Jon Reed on
The oft-quoted and usually reliable KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, released a research note in which he forecasts record breaking iPhone sales for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) during the holiday quarter, a March launch for the Apple Watch and a 12-inch MacBook Air sometime before April.
Ming-Chi estimates in his note, which was obtained by AppleInsider, that Apple has sold 73 million iPhones in the holiday quarter, including 43 million iPhone 6 handsets and 16 million iPhone 6 Plus models. This would be a record breaking number for Apple and would surpass the average estimate of around 69 million sales. He believes the success will continue into Q2 FY 2015, amounting to another 61.7 million sales.
He expects the Apple Watch to launch in March, giving it just one month of sales in the first quarter. He estimates the wearable to generate just under 3 million sales in that time. He also predicts that the highly anticipated 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina display will ship sometime in Q2, helping Mac sales to a 2.6% quarter-over-quarter increase. He believes Mac sales will be around 6 million for the the first quarter. As for the iPad, despite the new models, he believes sales could be as low as 21.4 million units, a 17.8% year-over-year drop.
The actual numbers will be available on Tuesday at 5 PM ET, when Apple releases its quarterly earnings report.