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Apple on track to sell record 54M iPhones in March quarter, Morgan Stanley says

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The latest data from Morgan Stanley suggests Apple is on target to set a new record and sell at least 54 million iPhones in the current quarter, which concludes later this month.

The investment firm's AlphaWise Smartphone Tracker suggests that there is demand for 55 million units in the quarter, though Apple may not be able to build that many. Morgan Stanley's research chain analysis suggests that Apple expects to build just over 52 million iPhones for the three-month period.

But Apple must also fill the channel with about two weeks of inventory to reach the mid-point of its 5-to-7-week target. Analyst Katy Huberty believes Apple will only be able to add less than a week of channel inventory in the quarter, equating to about 2 million units.

As a result, her forecast calls for Apple to ship 54 million total iPhones in the March quarter, which would be a new record for the company. That number is also about what is generally expected on Wall Street.

There are more bullish estimates however, such as UBS, which is projecting sales of 58 million iPhones for the March 2015 quarter. Barclays has an estimate of 54 million units, but has signaled to investors that its projection is "conservative."

In the same quarter a year ago, Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones, so sales of 54 million in the March quarter would represent a 24 percent year over year increase. Apple has topped the 50-million-unit mark only twice in its history, and both of those milestones came during holiday quarters following the launch of new handsets.

Just this week, Apple announced that it has shipped 700 million iPhones to date. As of the end of last quarter, it was at 665 million, which means Apple has shipped at least 35 million, but likely much more as Apple tends to report round numbers to the public outside of earnings.

Morgan Stanley's AlphaWise survey, which compiles sell-through data using Web search analysis, suggests that China and Brazil are seeing the fastest year-over-year growth for iPhone sales. The "clear laggard" for iPhone demand, according to the data, is Japan.



35 Comments

thewhitefalcon 10 Years · 4444 comments

The iPhone is a monster. Even in his wildest dreams I can't imagine Steve ever conceived of selling 50 million in an 'off' quarter, let alone 75 million in a holiday one.

jfc1138 12 Years · 3090 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismY 

Still no projected ASP?


It's been out there IIRC.

solipsismy 10 Years · 5099 comments

[quote name="jfc1138" url="/t/185191/apple-on-track-to-sell-record-54m-iphones-in-march-quarter-morgan-stanley-says#post_2690752"] It's been out there IIRC. [/quote] I'm projecting an $80 increase, but since I haven't taken into consideration how much older iPhone models sell as a percentage of the total number of units the farther we get from the initial market date of the current flaghsip model.

mpantone 18 Years · 2254 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AAPLfanboy 

So why the f*** is the share price down?


Today? Likely because some of iCloud's services are suffering an outage.

 

Or because investors are weenies...

 

Take your pick.