Analysts work hard to prove that what we assume to be correct does have substantial data to be correct. The general assumption is that when an upcoming phone is getting nearer, the sales of its predecessor tend to drop and Mike Walkley of Canaccord Genuity has confirmed that based his company’s findings and data, the iPhone 4S will continue to decline until the next generational device comes forth.
That said, he gave Apple stock a price target of $740, at a ‘buy’ rating. Lest his statement be taken out of context, what he means to say is that he believes that the Cupertino-based tech giants will post strong results for the second fiscal quarter which ended in March and that the modestly declining sales of the iPhone 4S will not even come near to disrupting future earnings.
Walkley said, “Our recent channel checks indicate modestly slowing iPhone 4S sell-through trends in developed markets. We have lowered near-term iPhone unit estimates, but we have increased our F2013 iPhone estimates as we anticipate very strong demand for a LTE iPhone 5 ramping during the December quarter. We maintain our belief Apple is well positioned for strong sales and earnings growth driven by new product introductions across its portfolio.”
In simple terms, the iPhone 4S is still selling despite the upcoming iPhone 5 which is rumored to be launched in fall, but the numbers are dropping slightly. Even then, analysts believe that when the next iPhone comes along, it will basically blow the figures out of the water like it has been doing regularly.