Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s June quarter results were more encouraging for Wall Street, and analysts are expressing a mix of shock and excitement at Tuesday’s report. iPhone sales hit a new June record of 31.2 million, although iPad sales posted their first June decline.
Here’s a roundup of what some analysts are saying about Apple today.
Piper Jaffray sees iPhone in a better position
Noted Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhones are doing better than he had thought. He said demand for the handset is strong, which pushed unit sales up, although the lower price of the iPhone 4 and 4S in emerging markets pulled the average selling price of the handset down.
Munster believes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new products will be coming over the next six quarters, starting with a less expensive iPhone sometime this fall.
Morgan Stanley looks for new products by September
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty still believes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will release new products during the September quarter, and she thinks that better component prices and a greater mix in iPhones will help with volatility in currency exchange rates and also transition costs during the quarter.
She believes that demand for the iPad will increase again when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) releases its new model, which she expects sometime soon.
Deutsche Bank sees mixed results
Analyst Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank said investors won’t really know anything about how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is doing until the company’s new products launch. He found it important that the company wouldn’t say if the September quarter will have a major transition in products. Like other analysts, he thinks the next iPhone could come toward the end of September, although he said it could even be pushed into the September quarter.
He’ll be keeping an eye on average selling prices for the iPhone and iPad sales, as well as the company’s progress in China.
JPMorgan wants to know more about Apple’s launch schedule
JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said he wanted to know what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s plans were for the launches of its next products. He wondered if it would stagger the launches in order to avoid the shortages sustained by the company last year.
He also expects the next iPhone to launch in September and is also looking for a new iPad Mini in October. He thinks gross margin pressures related to the launches of new products could be pushed to the December quarter, but they could be offset by greater revenue growth.
