New signs the iPhone 4 more than a year later is still hot in the minds of consumers. Last week, we wrote that the iPhone 4 is the top-selling U.S. smartphone despite cheaper Android alternatives. Another analyst tells investors the Apple handset shows ‘unexpected strength’ although the iPhone 5 is on the verge of hitting shelves.
Although the usual trend in technology is older versions stop selling as consumers await the next model. But this isn’t happening with the iPhone 4. “The biggest surprise we are picking up is unexpected strength in Apple’s iPhone business,” Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu writes Monday. He demand remain ‘remarkable’ despite the many reports Apple plans to introduce the iPhone 5 in October.
In the face of the iPhone 4s continued strength, the analyst increased his estimate for last quarter’s sales, hiking it to 18.5 million handsets, up from 15.7 million.
Early last week another Wall Street expert reported the iPhone 4 remains the top-selling smartphone at AT&T and Verizon, the two wireless carriers offering the Apple handset. “Our checks indicated strong sales of the iPhone 4, as it remained the top selling smartphone at AT&T and Verizon, despite increasing consumer expectations for the iPhone 5 launch,” Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley said last Tuesday.
