When it comes to the next generation of iPhones, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is going big. According to Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the products, Apple is planning to release its largest iPhone ever in 2018.
The new iPhone, reportedly code-named D33, is expected to have a screen in the 6.5-inch range, larger than any previous iPhone model. A 6.5-inch iPhone would also be larger than both the 6.2-inch Samsung Electronics Co Galaxy 9 Plus and the 6.3-inch Samsung Note 8.
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In addition to the larger iPhone model, Apple will reportedly be launching two other models, one the same size as the current iPhone X with additional features and one that has several of the iPhone X’s key features but comes at a much lower price.
Together, the three new iPhones will offer customers one larger, one better and one less expensive alternative to the iPhone X.
The highly anticipated iPhone X hasn’t triggered the buying frenzy that investors had hoped for. In the fourth quarter, Apple sold 77.3 millon iPhones, well short of consensus analyst expectations of 80.2 million units. IDC reports global smartphone sales declined 0.1 percent overall in 2017.
Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster says the larger iPhone will be a big hit in the high-growth Asian market.
“The market that will see the biggest jump in sales is likely Asia,” Munster said, according to Bloomberg. “That market has many single-device consumers, and they love big phones.”
GBH Insights head of technology research Daniel Ives says the company’s China opportunity is one of the cornerstones of his bullish long-term outlook for Apple.
“We estimate over a 100 million iPhone installed base in this key region, with over half of these consumers due for an upgrade during the course of [fiscal 2018 and the first half of fiscal 2019],” Ives says.
“In particular, we estimate between 60 million and 70 million Chinese iPhones will be in the ‘upgrade window’ over the next 12 to 18 months, with iPhone X and the next launches as a major potential product catalyst in the all-important Chinese market, which could see a renaissance of growth.”
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GBH has a “highly attractive” rating and $205 price target for AAPL stock.
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Now Apple Inc. (AAPL) Is Planning a Giant iPhone originally appeared on usnews.com
