The rumored iPhone 8 with OLED display has been a hot topic for a long time, and Wall Street isn’t going to stop harping on it until long after the first handsets have landed in the hands of consumers. Analysts are still going back and forth on whether the so-called iPhone 8 will launch on time with the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus or not, and now another firm has taken up what is fast becoming a contrarian view on this.
iPhone 8 with OLED display will launch on time: BMO
BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long expects the iPhone 8 with OLED display to launch on time, unlike the growing number of analysts that are predicting a late launch. Long seems to think Apple is determined to launch the iPhone 8 on time, even if it doesn’t have very many handsets available.
Images of Christmas shopping during “the olden days” before the Internet decimated brick-and-mortar retailers popped into my head when I read this. After all, it probably wouldn’t be a shock to anyone to hear that someone had shed blood just to get their hands on one of the coveted iPhones before most other Apple fanboys on the planet, as disturbing as it sounds.
September or October launch for iPhone 8 with OLED?
Long said in a note to investors dated July 23 that he’s looking for the iPhone 8 with OLED display to launch in September with the standard refresh models. He expects production capacity to ramp throughout the December quarter and believes stock-outs will continue throughout the first half of calendar year 2018, even though some analysts are again predicting price points in excess of $1,000.
The BMO analyst based his view on his own checks of Apple’s supply chain, although his sources said they’re still working on some pre-launch milestones, although he did not elaborate on what those might be. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said in a recent note that she expects an October launch for the iPhone 8 with OLED display, rather than September, calling this expectation “reasonable.”
Launch date clues from Apple’s earnings
Apple is set to release its latest earnings report on Aug. 1 after closing bell, and nearly the only thing the markets care about is the company’s guidance. Most analysts have written off the iPhone maker’s third fiscal quarter as unimportant because it’s only a prep quarter for the iPhone 8 with OLED display. Apple’s guidance for its fourth fiscal quarter is important because it provides a hint about when the iPhone 8 might launch.
Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski believes that a sales outlook of $51 billion to $53 billion implies a Sept. 22 launch date, but anything lower than $48 billion suggests an October launch for the iPhone with OLED screen.
