Yesterday, Apple launched the new iOS 7 design for almost all of its mobile devices. On Friday, the company will release the latest installment in its flagship model of smartphones, the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C. Now, on the eve of the new smartphone's launch, analysts are predicting the company to sell five to six million units worldwide by Sunday.
Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, said he expects roughly that number of iPhones to be sold over the weekend citing an investor note obtained by Mashable.
"We believe that Apple will likely sell all of the 5Ses they will produce for launch weekend," Munster wrote in the note. "Based on Apple not taking online pre-orders for the 5S, which we believe was to avoid customers immediately seeing delivery times for 2+ weeks out, we believe the 5S is more production-constrained than the iPhone 5 was at launch, likely due to the addition of the finger print technology."
He believes that Apple will sell about 2.5 million iPhone 5S devices and about 3 million iPhone 5C devices, with pre-orders accounting for 1 million of the iPhone 5C's sales.
Other analysts put the total at "at least" 6 million sales. Manye believe that the inclusion of China among the countries which will get the product right away will help in the iPhone's sales. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities, predicts the company will sell iPhones in the 6 to 8 million range over the weekend.
By comparison, Apple sold 5 million units during the launch weekend for the iPhone 5 last year. However, this number came in significantly lower than the 10 million expected units of the device sold.
It's possible the iPhone 5S will be much more constrained. This could be the result of the new Touch ID fingerprint scanner. That's why the company has only accepted pre-orders on the iPhone 5C device.
Will you be among the millions purchasing one of the two new iPhones this weekend? If so, tell us which one, if not, tell us why. Comment and share your thoughts below.
