Every analyst this year is predicting that the 2017 iPhone will be the biggest yet, with the sales figures to top the iPhone 6 launch back in 2014.
However, Nomura says that even that claim is a bit underwhelming.
As most customers know, the iPhone 6/Plus saw huge sales figures as customers have been wanting large-screened smartphones for quite some time. The downside, however, is that sales numbers dropped dramatically and continue to drop after customers became satisfied with their smartphones.
The market consensus is 80M iPhone units sold for the final quarter this year, already outpacing the 75M of the iPhone 6.But Nomura says that (via Business Insider) even that is underestimating the sales figures expected for the new iPhone.
“We estimate the iPhone 8 will launch into an iOS subscriber base 45-50% larger than the iPhone 6 did and model 86 million iPhones in F1Q18 (from 83 million).”
The increase in subscribers has been driven by sales of the iPhone 6, the analysts say: “We believe the iPhone 6 drove the iOS base up ~35%, followed by 5-10% increases from the subsequent devices.” Anyone who is still using an iPhone 6 is a prime candidate for buying a new iPhone in late 2017.
This year’s iPhone upgrade is expected to be a large upgrade. Rumored features include long-distance wireless charging, an OLED display with an embedded Home button, and an all glass design.
