By Alex Brooks iPhone 6 – Apple’s biggest phone yet?
On Tuesday January 27th, Apple will announce the results of its fiscal first quarter of 2015. Way back in October 2014, Apple told investors to expect total sales somewhere in the range of $63.5 to $66.5 billion—representing, at the midpoint, 15% growth from fiscal Q1 2014.
But that seems conservative according to some analysts. Onlookers have been pining over the iPhone sales numbers, which with a full quarter of iPhone 6 sales seem to be mind blowing—but who really knows? In addition, we know iPad sales are likely to continue a decline (a slow one?) and the Mac is doing just fine according to IDC’s skeptical numbers. So all in all, we’re looking at a BIG quarter.
According to Yahoo Finance the average estimate for the quarter ending December 2014 is 67.05 billion (B), with the low end still no where near Apple’s low end prediction falling in at 65.01B and the top end as far as 74.27B, compare that to year ago quarterly revenues of 57.59B. Not many companies out there sustaining almost 20% year-over-year growth.
Update: With some estimating that Apple’s quarterly earnings could almost touch $16B, it looks like Apple could take a firm place in the top three of largest corporate quarterly earnings of all time.
And the estimates for what has driven this mind blowing quarter?
Well-connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reckons that some 73 million iPhone 6 units were sold during the December quarter. If that is to be believed than Apple has smashed its previous iPhone sales figure by a whopping 22 million units (51.02 million units in Q114).
Apple iPhone Unit Sales (Q115 estimate)
What else?
Well earlier this year IDC took a punt at some Mac sales figures and ended up around 5.75 million, this has been widely debunked as too high. Fortune did the maths and that figure is in the upper quartile bet of most analysts, they reckon somewhere more like 5.5m.
And the iPad? The iPad has been the headline grabber for quite a few consecutive quarters. And it may yet do it again, but it really would have to shock to take the prize away from those mesmerising revenue numbers. Analyst’s average estimates fall in around 21 million unit sales, a solid fall of 17% from the year ago quarter. That may just be enough to spook analysts.
Watching March
Analysts will be keenly listening in for Apple’s Q215 estimates. Questions going through their head are if the iPhone can sustain and hold up growth with plummeting iPad sales? Is the Mac flat? Will Apps and other online services start to become the big story? How will Apple prepare for the Watch?
Again, according to Yahoo Finance analysts are looking at $53.71 billion for Q215, on gross margins of around 37.5%.
Source: World of Apple
