Rumor: IPhone 5 Sales To Top 80 Million In First Quarter

The iPhone 4S is Apple’s most successful smartphone to date, selling 37 million units during its first quarter of availability. Impressive, right? Well, if analyst Gene Munster is correct, the next iPhone will blow that number out of the water. According to him, Apple should expect to sell at least 80 million iPhone 5′s.

Such a huge number is a bit unbelievable, but it doesn’t seem that off the mark when you look at Munster’s method for determining iPhone 5 sales. First he surveyed 400 cellphone users and found that 65.5% of them plan to purchase an iPhone as their next device. What’s more, of that 65.5%, 51% will be standing in line or frantically refreshing Apple’s online store, purchasing the next iPhone as soon as it’s launched.

Then, taking those percentages into account, Munster factored in his estimated number of current iPhone owners. What that was all said and done, the results seemed to point at at least 80 million next-gen iPhone sales “in the bag.”

These findings are both surprising and expected. Such huge numbers are always going to come as somewhat of a shock, but Apple is so constantly breaking sales records that I can’t say I’m astonished at these numbers. What’s more, I’d even hazard a guess that Munster isn’t very far off with his predictions.

What do you guys think? Is 80 million iPhones simply too large a number to be realistic, or does it seem to be an accurate estimation? Also, just for fun, how many of you are planning on purchasing the next iPhone, never having seen or used the device? Let me know in the comments section below