Analysts Raise Estimates for Apple, Predicting Better June and September iPhone Sales Than Expected

[Maura]

Barron’s reports that BMO Capital is raising its estimates for Apple, believing that June and September iPhone units will be “better than expected.”

The announcement is based on the findings of BMO Capital analysts Ambrish Srivastava and Tim Long, following several meetings in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea with electronics supply chain companies.

Srivastava and Long raised their June and September iPhone estimates to 42 million and 44 million respectively, up from 38 million and 42 million. According to Srivastava and Long, one of several reasons for the better-than-expected iPhone units is the success of the iPhone SE

“We have seen the supply chain stabilize over the last month or two after a rough few months. Our checks indicate that near-term shipments are tracking well. Part of this is strength in the lower-priced SE, but we also believe that the replacement rate is catching up after a soft period.”

Srivastava and Long also talked about what they had learned during the meetings about the forthcoming iPhone 7, which they think will be a “modest success.”

Interestingly, they said that their findings support several recent rumours, such as the higher memory content of 32GB/128GB/256GB, rather than the current 16GB/64GB/128GB, but say that the higher entry-level memory will not result in an increase in price for the entry-level 32GB model. They also confirmed the removal of the headphone jack, and the addition of more speakers.

Source: Barron’s