Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray predicts Apple will sell 10 million iPhone 5’s in the first 3 weeks on the market. If that prediction holds up Apple will be heading into a healthy October, just in time for the expected released of the Apple iPad mini.
To put that number into perspective it took Samsung 50 days to reach the same 10 million units sales level with its wildly successful Samsung Galaxy S III.
Apple in comparison sold approximately 4 million iPhone 4S devices in the first weekend of release when it was released on the open market. In Apple’s fiscal Q1 which ended on December 31, 2011 the company had sold 37 million iPhones.
The first time Apple broke the 10 million mark for a full quarter was in Q4 2010 when it sold 14.1 million iPhone smartphones.
While 10 million units might sound impressive over a 21 day period, the biggest prediction so far comes from FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger, he predicts Apple will sell 250 million iPhone 5 units over the lifecycle of the smartphone. If the 250 million prediction holds true it would mean $144 billion in revenue. If you have been keeping track that’s nearly three times the revenues Apple has earned from iPhone sales since launching its smartphone line five-years ago.
The massive increase in Apple iPhone sales is largely attributed to the company’s further advancing sales in large markets, specifically China and parts of Europe.
Chief economist Michael Feroli tells the Los Angeles Times that Apple iPhone 5 sales could boost the GDP by “$3.2 billion, or $12.8 billion at an annual rate, increasing fourth-quarter growth by a third of a percentage point.”
