With less than a week for Apple to officially announce the quarterly earnings, analysts predict that the tech giant has managed to push 55.3 million iPhones in Q4 of 2013.
Apple's quarterly report for Q4 of 2013 is due Monday, January 27, but analysts have already put out some figures to match the iPhones' sold inventory in the last quarter. Highlighting the holiday quarter and the first full quarter for iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, tech industry pundits think Apple has easily surpassed the 50 million mark for its iPhone sales. Fortune tech magazine rounded up 44 analysts' predictions-27 professionals and 17 amateurs- to conclude that average iPhone sales in the previous quarter went up by 16 percent, adding up to a total of 55.3 million units from the same quarter in 2012.
If the predictions come close to what Apple is yet to announce, it would represent a record quarter for the iPhone sales. The fourth quarter results won't include the units sold in China through Apple-China Mobile deal in December, which means the tech giant has a lot to look forward to in 2014.
Apple's iPhone 5S and 5C sales were phenomenal. The Cupertino tech giant announced in September that the opening weekend sales for both iPhones touched 9 million, more than what analysts had predicted. With such a grand opening, Apple's record numbers in the last quarter are definite.
Fortune magazine also notes that the gap between the low and high estimates is only 9.7 million, while the previous year, the gap was close to 20 million. Among the panel of analysts was Merill Lynch's Scott Craig, who was most optimistic with an estimate of 55.3 million units, and Pacific Crest's Andy Hargreaves estimated the lowest figure, 50.93 million.
Apple's deal with China Mobile has also given the company a stable position. Share prices went up from around $425 to $540 in the last 6 months.
