Apple may have sold as many as 69.3 million iPhones in the December quarter, according to a report from UBS on Wednesday. The number suggested by the research firm beats the Wall Street estimate of 65.5 million for the three-month span.
Will Apple’s sales hit a new record?
In 2013, Apple set a new record by selling a whopping 51 million iPhones during the holiday quarter. Compared to the previous year, a surge of 18.3 million units would total to around 36% growth in iPhone sales this year.
UBS analyst Steven Milunovich stated that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will see a hike in demand. Further, the research suggested that China could contribute as much as 35% of all iPhones shipments for the quarter, compared with 22% a year ago. According to Milunovich, revenue for Apple would total to $68 billion, a substantial rise from $57.6 billion last year.
UBS concluded its findings after tracking over 20 countries weighed by respective country data from Gartner Market Statistics. UBS has also made assumptions for quarterly variance and seasonal effects using a sample period from 2008 to the end of 2012.
Speculations surrounding the sales numbers will be put to rest after Apple talks about its first quarter 2015 results on Jan. 27. UBS has assigned a Buy rating on the stock with a 12-month price target of $125.
Apple threatens Android’s dominance
Separately, in Australia, competition in the smartphone segment has intensified, according to a recent report from Kantar WorldPanel ComTech. The data for the three months ending November 2014 suggests Apple’s iOS rose to 44.9% of market share, compared to Android’s 45% share.
Similar trends could be seen globally as well. In the United States, iOS managed a 4.3% rise against a 2% drop in Android compared to the previous year, with Android standing first with 48.4% compared to 47.4% for iOS. For the quarter, the iPhone 6 was the number one selling smartphone in the U.S., and according to Kantar data, Android’s sales market share tumbled for the first time since September 2013.
In the United Kingdom, Apple posted a rise of 12.2%, compared to a 6.7% drop for Android phones. In Europe, around 18% of Android users are switching to iPhones when they are upgrading their devices, according to the data.
