According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Apple has overcome whatever delays it faced in manufacturing the iPhone 12 and, as of now, the devices should debut in September as planned. Shipping would take place early the next month.
While that’s marginally later than last year’s launch date, it suggests that Apple has managed to claw back its schedule after coronavirus rocked the supply chain earlier this year.
In a note to subscribers on Tuesday, Ives wrote that his latest research indicates that Apple will debut the new iPhones “in late September with the smartphones ready to hit the shelves globally in early October” 2020.
This would be slightly later than last year’s iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, which were unveiled on September 10 and shipped on September 20. The year before that, the iPhone XS and XS Max were unveiled September 12 and shipped September 21. However, the iPhone XR did not ship until October 26.
Ives makes the following observation about the long-awaited 5G support for the iPhone 12:
“From a 5G perspective, there will be a US and non-US version introduced. The US version will have mmWave technology and after some technology wrinkles appear to have been ironed out by Apple and its suppliers over the last month, which is a clear positive heading into this pivotal launch. From a demand perspective, we estimate that ~350 million of Apple’s 950 million iPhones worldwide are in this upgrade window which remains the linchpin to our longer-term bullish thesis and 5G super cycle for Cupertino over the next 12 to 18 months.”
No packaged EarPods with iPhone 12 will be great for AirPods sales
In his note, Ives also backs up a previous report there will likely be no wired EarPods with the iPhone 12 handsets. This would have a positive impact on AirPod sales. Ives expects Apple to sell a massive 85 million AirPods this year versus 65 million units last year.
Ives is one of the most bullish Apple analysts. He currently has an “outperform” rating on Apple, with a base price target of $375. But he believes AAPL could potentially hit his “bull price target” of $425. At present, Apple is trading at $342.99.
