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The new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are shown during launch day on October 23, 2020 in London, England. Ming Yong / Getty Images
Apple shares have died in the water this year, as investors sucked up to the shares’ 81% boost in 2020 — and think about the ramifications of the company’s impressive financial performance in the first quarter of March, continued regulatory attention, and an ongoing shortage of components.
What Apple stock (stock ticker: AAPL) needs is a new catalyst — like the fall’s iPhone launch.
Apple announces a new generation of iPhone every fall. Last year, in an announcement delayed by the pandemic, Apple unveiled the iPhone 12, the company’s first generation of 5G phones. The launch was preceded by a deafening uproar, and widespread speculation about a pending “supercycle” that would speed up demand. In fact, iPhone sales rose 66% in the March quarter, the first full reporting period since launch.
There is absolutely no fuss on the iPhone 13 (or whatever the next generation is called). But new phones are definitely coming. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives confirmed in a research note on Monday that the announcement will likely be the third week of September. (The company hasn’t actually announced a date, nor is it likely to do so in advance yet.) He believes the iPhone 13 will include a new 1TB storage option, with a number of feature improvements, including an all-model-based laser-radar lidar, which should lead to more adoption of augmented reality apps.
Ives says his checks with Apple’s supply chain in Asia found the company is targeting 130 million to 150 million total units in the second half of the calendar. He adds that the iPhone 13 appears to account for 35% to 45% of iPhone releases in the third quarter. He adds that initial build orders range from 90 million to 100 million units for the iPhone 13, up from its original estimate of 80 million for the iPhone 12.
His view: The surge in demand for 5G phones should continue from here, with a boost from the post-vaccine reopening environment.
On Monday, Apple stock rose 1% to $131.68.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
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