Apple could ship a record-breaking 250 million iPhones next year

News
By Joe Wituschek
published

Iphone 12 Lineup
Iphone 12 Lineup (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Investment bank Wedbush believes Apple may ship 250 million iPhones in FY 2021.
  • This prediction comes as the iPhone 12 lineup has wildly outperformed their initial predictions.

Reported by AppleInsider a note to investors from investment bank Wedbush says that the success of Apple's iPhone 12 lineup may exceed even its already high expectations.

In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, lead analyst Daniel Ives says that Apple has not had a "launch uptrend such as this in a number of years." Ives notes that that the only similar iPhone trajectory would be the iPhone 6 in 2014.

Lead analyst Daniel Ives says that, based on the firm's supply chain analysis, demand for Apple's latest phones has exceeded their 'bull case scenario' going into next year. They are expecting unit assemblies of up to 95 million, a 35% increase from their initial predictions.

"The last few days our TMT team conducted our Asia supply chain checks for iPhones which were incrementally bullish around iPhone 12 5G demand and have now exceeded even our 'bull case scenario' for units in FY21 given the current trajectory."

Apple iPhone 12

Apple iPhone 12 (Image credit: Apple)

Wedbush says that if this trajectory continues Apple could ship almost 250 million iPhones next year, a feat that would break its previous shipment record of 231 million units in 2015.

If that trajectory holds out in a bull case through the holiday quarter, Ives predicts that Apple could ship "north of 240 million" units in 2021. The analyst adds that Apple could ship a peak of about 250 million units in total. According to Ives, this is a "jaw-dropping figure" that would easily eclipse the previous record of 231 million units sold in 2015.

Demand for the iPhone 12 lineup has also exceeded Apple's own expectations, so this kind of performance isn't outside of the realm of possibility.

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.