Apple will sell 28 million iPhones in the December 2011 quarter according to analyst Mark Moskowitz of JP Morgan.
Moskowitz said in a note to investors that “Santa’s sleigh needs more room for iPhones”, when revising his company’s estimate for iPhone sales for the holiday quarter from 25.3 million to 28 million, Apple Insider reports.
He said that uptake of the iPhone 4S, as well as the now-discounted iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, had been stronger than expected in the US. Moskowitz also predicted that the older iPhones would help Apple’s push to penetrate the Chinese market.
Apple’s previous record quarter for iPhone sales was the quarter ending June 2011, when it sold 20.34 million units. Sales dipped in the quarter ending September 2011, with many customers anticipating the launch of the iPhone 4S in October. The quarter ending December 2010 saw iPhone sales of 16.24 million.
In terms of the iPad, JP Morgan revised its December 2011 quarter estimate down from 13.3 million to 13 million, citing better than expected sales of the Amazon Kindle fire in the US. Mac sales would remain steady at 5.4 million units, Moskowitz said.
In fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2013 the company will sell 105.5 million and 121.7 million iPhones respectively, according to JP Morgan’s revised estimates.