The iPhone 5 Expected to “Shatter” Single Day Sales Record

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There is a bombastic upstate New York car dealer who loves to say his auto sales are “huge.” However, the first day of iPhone 5 sales expected to start this week, could redefine the definition. The enormous “pent up demand” for the new iPhone will “shatter” Apple’s previous one-day sales record of 1.7 million handsets, according to a Wall Street analyst.

There are two main reasons why the next iPhone — whether iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 — will likely break records for initial sales, according to Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. The first reason is timing. Instead of the usual July launch date, this iPhone was kept under wraps until October. Then there is the reported addition of U.S. carrier Sprint, with 52.1 million subscribers, on top of the current AT&T and Verizon mix. Internationally, talk is that late-stage negotiations are under way with China Mobile, which claims 628 million subscribers.

As a result, Janney Capital Markets analyst Bill Choi tells investors he thinks 84 million iPhones will sell this year and up to 107 million iPhones in 2012. “Apple is well positioned to capture an enormous profit pool as mobility and content worlds converge,” he said Monday.

Just what sort of iPhone should be expect this week from Apple CEO Tim Cook? The handset will “get a complete makeover with a sleek, aluminum unibody enclosure that more closely resembles the MacBook Air than the iPhone 4,” writes White. The new body not only will prevent problems of the glass back breaking, but also let Apple enlarge the display to 4 inches. But this won’t be the only feature update made to stay current with rival smartphones. Also, the iPhone 5 processor could be beefed-up with “at least a Dual Core 1.2GHz” engine and an 8 mega pixel 1080p camera — both aimed at matching the Samsung Galaxy S II, the analyst writes.

We’re not so sure that a completely redesigned iPhone is coming tomorrow, but White sure seems positive. What do you think? iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, or iPhone other? Let us know in the comments.

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