Cantor Fitzgerald released a new report on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) this morning in light of the company’s launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The smartphones hit the market at 8 a.m. local time this morning. That means they’re available on the East Coast and just about to come on sale in Central Time areas at time of writing. West Coast Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fans will have to wait just a little longer.
The new report takes a look at the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launch, and projects that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will sell between 5 and 6 million iPhone models this weekend. Last year the iPhone 5 sold just over 5 million, including 2 million pre-orders. It appears that the iPhone 5s will suffer from supply constraints because of the rarity of its fingerprint sensor.
iPhone 5s launch numbers
No good estimates for iPhone 5s demand have arrived yet, but one thing seems certain: the iPhone 5s Gold is a difficult phone to find this morning. It appears that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) made less gold models available than the silver and space-grey iPhone 5s models.
The iPhone 5s was not offered for pre-orders this year, an unusual move from Cupertino. Gene Munster predicted that there would only be around 2.5 million units of the smartphone on the market this weekend. With 2 million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 last year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) couldn’t afford to offer the service in 2013.
Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald is still bullish on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) prospects in spite of the supply constraints. His estimate of 5-6 million units sold this weekend seems about the standard for analysts at the moment, but his unchanged price target is a good deal higher. White rates Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock a Buy with a price target of $777 per share.
Apple iPhone struggle
Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have seen some rough trading in recent weeks. The build up to the release of the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c coincided with a growth in value, but the actual release drove shares to their lowest level since mid-August.
On today’s market, shares in the Cupertino company were trading up a fraction. It’s impossible to tell how iPhone sales will stack up to last year at this early stage, but analysts will probably have some opinions on sales by the middle of next week.
