Apple Ready To Launch 'iPhone 9'; Analyst Says Initial Sales Could Reach 25M Units

Apple Inc. AAPL has unveiled its iPhone 9/SE2, the successor to its iPhone SE.

Underlying demand and the prior SE cycle indicate that the company’s target of shipping between 20 million and 25 million units in the first six to nine months appears realistic, according to Wedbush.

"The new iPhone SE is essentially an iPhone 11 stuffed into the revamped body of an iPhone 8. Like the original SE, the new phone will start at $399 -- $50 cheaper than the discontinued iPhone 8 which was the least expensive iPhone you could buy new," according to CNET.

See Also: Apple Reportedly Planning Major iPhone Design Overhaul For Fall Launches

The Apple Analyst

Daniel Ives maintained an Outperform rating for Apple, with a price target of $335.

The Apple Thesis

Apple had to delay the launch of the iPhone 9/SE2 from the original March timeline due to the pandemic and supply chain issues across Asia, Ives said.

The company may have decided to launch a mid-cycle budget smartphone against the challenging backdrop of global lockdowns “in hopes of gaining contained success out of the gates” and may be viewing this as a “low volume, low touch release with little fanfare,” the analyst wrote in a note.

Ives also said Apple is "extremely unlikely" to launch iPhone 12 and 5G models in the September-October timeframe. He assigned a 10%-15% probability of this, given lingering supply chain issues through Asia and the global pandemic “that has consumers worried about their health, groceries, jobs, and hand sanitizer over buying a new $1,000+ iPhone.”

AAPL Price Action

Shares of Apple traded around $285.17 at time of publication Wednesday.