Analyst: Apple to Sell 35M iPhones in 2011 With or Without Verizon

Credit: f-l-e-x/Flickr

Speculation over whether or not Verizon will get a contract to sell the iPhone is pointless. But no matter the outcome, Apple is on track to sell at least 35 million of the iconic handsets in 2011, an analyst told investors Friday.

Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig said selling 33 million iPhones this year is “basically achievable” this year, no matter if Verizon becomes the second handset carrier this year or AT&T remains Apple’s exclusive carrier throughout the remainder of 2010.

Although Wall Street expects 44 million iPhones will sell in 2011, that consensus is contingent on either Verizon becoming an Apple carrier or another major change, such as a pick-up in foreign markets or a new iPhone model introduced.

According to Craig, if Apple makes no big announcements, including picking Verizon as a second U.S. carrier, the Cupertino, Calif. company would likely report 35 million iPhones sold in 201 – that’s 1.5 million units higher than the analyst had previously forecast. However, should Apple expand its iPhone partnerships beyond AT&T – including possibly Verizon – that sales figure could jump to 55 million handsets next year, the analyst said.

In February, a number of analysts suggested AT&T could remain the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier through 2011. Apple’s decision to use AT&T as the network for the yet-to-ship iPad tablet device points to a “vote of confidence” in the New York-based carrier, Barclays Capital analyst Vija Jayant said. Financial analysts at Credit Suisse even said there was a 75 percent chance AT&T would keep iPhone exclusivity for another year.

This indecision about whether Verizon will or won’t receive the nod from Apple is having an impact on how Wall Street views the company. Last month, Credit Suisse downgraded Verizon to Neutral from Outperform, citing the uncertainty.

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[via Barron's]

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Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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Kevin
Hopefully WITHOUT. Verizon Wireless sucks. Their commericals are blatant LIES. NO ONE from that company, not even their fictional ‘netwotk guy’, is going to be there to help you when you move to a home that doesnt receive their signal well. NO ONE! I have, and will continue to, switch people away from Verizon in my neighborhood, my friends and my family as well. One by one people are realizing what a piece of crap that company is.
ssn
Unlike Kevin, I’ve experienced nothing but perfect service from Verizon and hope they get the iPhone. I’ve heard way more complaints from AT&A customers about lack of service.
Ydobon
If you look at the most recent Consumer Reports survey of U.S. mobile operators, all of their scores were rather low and nothing to be proud of. Verizon did come up on top, but basically they are a 36-inch giant in a kingdom of 34-inch midgets. No U.S. mobile operator should be proud of their track record.
John Anthony
Another vote in for Verizon, the joy of Verizon is I have service anywhere I go. I have 5 bars in my house. It is rated as the best service, AT&T? dead last. My friend is constantly using my Blackberry instead of his iphone when we travel. Just because your particular block isnt receiving service right doesnt mean that it isnt by far the better service.
http://www.markcrummett.com Mark Crummett
It’s not pointless to us on Verizon who jones after an iPhone. I wish Apple well, but I wish they’d sell an iPhone to me that I can use.
maxgorilla
Give the iPhone contract to T-Mobile instead. Far better customer support, and no price gouging like Verizon or AT&T. Plus T-Mobile already has lots of experience being an OFFICIAL iPhone carrier…. in Europe.
cabeachguy
As a diehard Mac guy for over 20 years now I am still amazed that Apple hasn’t jumped at the chance to move away from the exclusivity agreement with ATT. They had their chance when they brought out the iPad and didn’t do it.
Apple fully realizes that a good portion of their Mac user base is totally anti-Microsoft (the Evil Empire). The iPhone is designed to seamlessly integrate with a Mac, right? So why would an Apple die-hard who covets an iPhone want to deal with ATT, which runs a VERY close second to Microsoft as an organization no self-respecting Mac-head would want to deal with.
I can’t wait for the day when Apple finally gets it together and shifts to T-Mobile for the benefit of their Apple consumers.
cabeachguy
As a diehard Mac guy for over 20 years now I am still amazed that Apple hasn’t jumped at the chance to move away from the exclusivity agreement with ATT. They had their chance when they brought out the iPad and didn’t do it.
Apple fully realizes that a good portion of their Mac user base is totally anti-Microsoft (the Evil Empire). The iPhone is designed to seamlessly integrate with a Mac, right? So why would an Apple die-hard who covets an iPhone want to deal with ATT, which runs a VERY close second to Microsoft as an organization no self-respecting Mac-head would want to deal with.
I can’t wait for the day when Apple finally gets it together and shifts to T-Mobile for the benefit of their Apple consumers. Then I can finally take a golf club to my Blackberry and buy an iPhone. I’m not about to go to Verizon either, as their customer service ranks with that of UPS. I’ve waited since the iPhone first came out to get one, but if they don’t give the iPhone to T-Mobile I’ll be jumping over to an HTC Android which sucks because there are about 20 iPhone apps for my industry that I can’t get on and Android (or the BB for that matter).