By Neil Hughes
Published: 11:40 AM EST (08:40 AM PST)
While the new iPhone 4 from Apple sold a record 1.7 million units in its first three days, analysts on Wall Street believe that number would have been even higher if more supplies were available.
Piper Jaffray
Sales momentum for the iPhone 4 is expected to continue, analyst Gene Munster said, thanks to a number of catalysts in the near future. Chief among them is quick international expansion, with the new handset set to become available in 88 total countries by the end of September.
Apple also revealed last week that the white iPhone 4 will
go on sale in July, as the handset didn't make last week's launch date due to manufacturing difficulties.
In addition, Munster believes that about 200,000 preorders (one-third of the
600,000 announced direct from Apple) were placed after shipments were pushed back to July. Currently, new iPhone 4 preorders from Apple carry a
three-week wait.
Munster believes Apple will sell 9.5 million iPhones in the June quarter, which concludes this week. That number is unchanged, despite the fact that Apple's announcement of
1.7 million units sold is 200,000 greater than his previous high-end prediction. He said the estimate for the June quarter will remain unchanged because he had a strong iPhone 4 launch already built into assumptions for the three-month frame.
UBS Investment Research
Analyst Maynard Um expects Apple to sell just 8 million iPhones this quarter, down from the
record 8.75 million sold last quarter. But when supply for the iPhone 4 catches up with demand next quarter, he sees Apple selling at least 9.8 million units -- and likely even more, as he admitted that number is "conservative."
"Demand continues to remain stronger than supply as most stores remained sold out or held minimal inventory throughout the weekend and Apple's online store currently has a 3 week wait for the device," Um wrote. "Our anecdotal checks indicate that demand will be robust for some time as the company plans to launch in an additional 18 countries in July (and 88 countries by the end of Sept.); we believe the company is currently selling through every device they are able to manufacture."
