News surrounding the rumored launch of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 6 with a big screen could have a cannibalizing effect on the sales of their iPhone 5 series of smartphones, believe analyst, according to a report from Investors.com. In a recent survey, it has been found that more and more buyers of the iPhone will prefer a bigger and thinner smartphone. Since the rumored iPhone 6 images seem to come with both the features mentioned above, therefore, the prospective iPhone buyers are willing to wait for the release. Hence, the demand for the iPhone 5 series can be on a decline, as per the experts.
Declining sales of current iPhone models
After the close on Wednesday, the report on Apple’s fiscal second quarter will be out and the impact might be seen there. The sales of the iPhone are already on a decline for the month of April with the launch of the Galaxy S5 smartphone by Samsung. It is expected that the iPhone 6 will be released post September 2014.
According to the Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will lose its market share to the high-end smart phones running on the android OS from Google. This will basically happen in the June quarter, before the iPhone 6 is launched. They will probably be able to win back their market share once they release iPhone 6 in the market.
Apple still a Buy
Most of the stock market analysts rate Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a good Buy. Walkley has, also, rated Apple as a Buy with a price target of $600. Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities said that it is very likely that the lower than expected shipments of iPhone will have a negative impact on the quarterly results ending March. Lamba too rates the stock a But with a price target of $575. According to him, there is a bright future for Apple, in the latter half of the year, as they will release new iPhones and a new product category altogether.
Analysts at Thomson Reuters expect Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to generate sales revenue worth $43.55 billion in Q2 and an EPS of $10.19. This indicates an EPS growth of 1% on flat sales year over year. As per the Wall Street estimates, Apple will be able to sell about 37 million iPhones and 20 million iPads in the March quarter.
For Q3 of 2014, analysts expect EPS of $8.46, which is a 13% growth on sales worth $38.05 billion, which is 8% growth.
