Instead of the usual 12 months between new iPhone releases, it’s been almost 16 – and that’s long enough to create “pent-up demand" for Apple’s iPhone 5, which is likely to “shatter" the company’s one-day sales record later this month.
That’s according to Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, who’s telling investors that he expects Apple to sell well over 1.7 million new iPhones – the old record – when the device debuts. Apple has a media event scheduled for Tuesday, when the company is expected to announces specs and a release date for the new smartphone. White also says he has insight into what the new iPhone will look like.
“We expect the iPhone 5 to get a makeover with a sleek, aluminum unibody enclosure that more closely resembles the MacBook Air than the iPhone 4, which will not only prove more aesthetically pleasing but also stronger, lighter and avoid the back-side "glass breaks" of last year. With this new enclosure, we believe this will provide Apple with the opportunity to expand the display size by at least one half of an inch to 4 inches and hopefully bigger. Apple will clearly need to upgrade the processor speed to at least a Dual Core 1.2GHz to match the Samsung Galaxy S II, while upgrading to a 8 megapixel 1080p camera that is now also on the Galaxy S II."
In addition to the general fervor building for the new iPhone, it will be available on more carriers’ networks than ever before at launch. Just one example: Verizon Wireless broke AT&T’s exclusive U.S. stranglehold on the device earlier this year. Apple has also negotiated more international deals for the iPhone in 2011.
New CEO Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs this summer, will lead Tuesday’s event, adding a little more intrigue to the unveiling. In spite of White’s prediction, just what we’ll see remains a mystery. The biggest question still out there is whether it’ll be a full-blown iPhone 5; a less-expensive, souped-up version of the iPhone 4 aimed at emerging markets; or both.
