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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

iPhones sales could beat the iPod this holiday quarter

By | October 14, 2011, 10:57am PDT

Summary: Could there be more iPhones under the Christmas tree this year than iPods?

How many iPhones do you think Apple will sell during the holiday quarter? A lot. OK, but that’s not a number.

Kevin Dede, an analyst with Brigante Advisors, pulls out a crystal ball and predicts that the number of iPhones that Apple will sell over the coming quarter could be as high as 24 million.

“Positive device reviews in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Boy Genius Report all of which noted the better-than-expected performance of Siri, Apple’s voice-activated digital assistant (a working manifestation of artificial intelligence), and in concert with record setting pre-orders (separately, bolstered by broader distribution, of course) leave us confident that today’s 4S release should be met with fanfare typical of new Apple product,” Kevin Dede, an analyst with Brigante Advisors, wrote in a note to investors Friday.

That 24 million number is significant. Why? Because it tops, by a significant amount, the number of iPods that Apple sells during a typical holiday quarter. Here’s some data for you, I’ve highlighted the holiday quarters:

Can Apple pull this off 24 million sales? Well, it’s not as big of an achievement as you might think because Apple shifted over 20 million iPhones last quarter. Here’s some more data for you:

For completeness, here are how many Macs Apple sells per quarter:

Bottom line, I think that Apple might be able to sell more than 24 million … perhaps breaking the 25 million figure. Apple’s not managed to sell 25 million of anything in a quarter before, but it could be Apple’s lucky quarter.

The takeaway …

  • The appeal of the iPod has been diminishing for years now, and Apple knows this.
  • Moving the iPhone launch to October pushes it into the holiday quarter
  • A new iPhone just in time for the festive spending jamboree is likely to be on a lot of people’s wishlists

Poll

Do you think Apple can sell 24 million iPhones during the holiday quarter?

More Apple coverage:

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: iPhones sales could beat the iPod this holiday quarter
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes 14th Oct
@DeRSSS Yeah, supply chain issues could throw a spanner in the works.
... could sell less iPhones than iPods, especially considering that iPods are in the gradual decline. iPods may sell like 15 million, while iPhones could not obviously sell any less than 24 million (if we do not consider any manufacturing catastrophe that would tamper with it).
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@DeRSSS Yeah, supply chain issues could throw a spanner in the works.

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