The next iPhone is perceived to be a "super cycle" release that one report is claiming Apple (AAPL) shares will climb to a high of $165 per unit immediately following the iPhone 8 rollout, which is likely to happen as early as September 2017.
The latest note from investment firm Nomura Instinet, according to 9to5Mac, indicated the iPhone 8, as well as the accompanying iPhone 7S and 7S Plus refreshes, will prompt massive upgrade moves from existing models. By the end of the December 2017 quarter, Apple is predicted to have cleared out around 87 million new iPhone units, bannered by the iPhone 8.
And in fiscal 2018, Nomura is forecasting that Apple will sell 260 million freshly-minted iPhones. The estimated great demand for the iPhone 8 prompted the same Nomura report to raise the AAPL target price between $150 and $165, or slightly higher from the earlier projections offered by analysts.
9to5Mac said Morgan Stanley is convinced the next iPhone is packed with potentials that the market is yet to fully realize while Gene Munster, an analyst known to closely watch Apple product releases, is under the impression that the arrival of the iPhone 8 will bring with it a "paradigm shift."
The report added that if the estimates published by Nomura will prove correct, Apple's iPhone business stands to see year-on-year growth of around 12 percent, meaning the Q1 2018 sales of 87 million units would add nearly 10 million units from the record results posted in Q1 2017.
Nomura said the new iPhones will tempt existing iPhone users to finally make the jump. Such migration moves will again allow Apple to rewrite history.
The rush, however, to grab the iPhone 8 could be temporarily dampened by supply issues as suggested in recent reports. Supply chain rumors hinted that while the iPhone 8 unveiling and subsequent debut will happen as scheduled, the device will hit the market fraught by limited availability.
While the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus will ship out in sufficient number of units, the iPhone 8 with OLED display will be hard to come by, Barclays reported this week. This aligns with a recent note issued by KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo - that due to supply issues on the OLED panel, mass production of the iPhone 8 will not commence until early September.
Kuo said Apple might be unable to meet the heavy demands for the iPhone 8 immediately after its release, suggesting that the bulk of the OLED-laced iPhone will ship a bit later.