Less than two weeks after Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) launched its highly anticipated iPhone X, reports are already surfacing about what the company has planned for the iPhone in 2018.
According to a new report by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning on releasing three iPhone models next year as follow-ups to the iPhone X.
Kuo says Apple is planning on releasing a second-generation iPhone X in 2018 with the same 5.8-inch OLED screen size as the current model. In addition, Apple is planning a lower-resolution LCD iPhone with a 6.1-inch screen size and a larger 6.5-inch high-end OLED device.
[See: 10 Great Tech ETFs That Stay Under the Radar.]
“We believe the major hardware difference in the two new OLED models is size, in a bid to satisfy various needs of the high-end market,” Kuo says, according to MacRumors. “The primary selling points of the TFT-LCD model may be the innovative user experience of an integrated full-screen design and 3D sensing with a lower price tag (we expect it will likely be US$649-749).”
Kuo didn’t provide any price estimates for the higher-end OLED iPhone models, but the 5.8-inch iPhone X currently starts at $999.
Apple has not confirmed the specs on the next generation of iPhones, but Kuo’s supply chain sources accurately revealed display size, design features and technical specifications of the current iPhone X well before those details were made public.
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says pent-up demand for Apple’s current family of iPhones will result in a big year for Apple investors in 2018.
“We see iPhone X unlocking pent-up iPhone upgrades, especially in China, driving 20 percent-plus iPhone unit growth and revenue and EPS of 15 to 16 percent above consensus in [fiscal 2018],” Huberty says. “Our bottom-up iPhone unit forecast by region points to 268 million iPhone shipments in 2018, ahead of consensus forecast of 242 million.”
However, with iPhone X excitement reaching a climax, Investment Management Associates chief investment officer Vitaliy Katsenelson says it may already be time for long-term Apple investors to look beyond the iPhone X.
“Absent a new category of products, Apple is turning into a fully ripe stock,” Katsenelson says. “Yes, it will look statistically cheap based on 2018 earnings, but that will not be the case if you look at 2019 or 2020 earnings.”
[See: 9 of the Market’s Best Growth Stocks.]
Morgan Stanley has an “overweight” rating and a $200 price target for Apple stock.
More from U.S. News
High-Tech Investing: 7 Sectors to Watch
8 of the Most Incredible Investments of the 21st Century
7 Investment Fees You Might Not Realize You’re Paying
Apple Inc. News: Your iPhone X Is Already Obsolete (AAPL) originally appeared on usnews.com
