$300 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 on 2014 Release Date, iWatch are Huge Revenue Generators for Apple – Analyst
The iPhone 6 on its release date this 2014 plus the feature-rich iWatch, said a new report, will propel Apple to new record highs that could see the company's stock price easily breaching the $100 mark following its 7-for-1 spit this week.
This early, the next iPhone models - the handsets are rumoured to hit the market in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes - have already generated significant excitement among consumers and market watchers that AAPL shares are projected to shoot up to $100 and beyond, according to Apple Insider.
The same report pointed to a new research note from RBC Capital Markets, which states that the iPhone 6 and Apple's perceived new product categories have inspired confidence among investors.
The iPhone 6, in particular, is expected to reap profits for Apple, which the RBC report said is a prospect that equally applies to the regular and supersized 2014 iPhones.
RBC's Amit Daryanani also predicted that the first iPhone phablet will retail starting at $300 with contract but the device will sell like hotcakes. The same is true for the 4.7-inch build, added the RBC report.
Another Apple cash cow would be the upgraded iPad Air and iPad Mini, Daryanani said, adding that the slates will arrive fall of 2014. The forecast is in line with the call made by Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities - that the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3 will roll out earlier than their predecessors in 2013.
However, the one device that really will complement the iPhone 6, both in functions and market success is Apple's rumoured wearable device - the iWatch that Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald said will debut alongside the upcoming iPhones.
The main contribution of the iWatch to Apple is it will make "users more integrated into the company's ecosystem by acting as a health monitoring system, and also increasing communication with other Apple devices," said the Apple Insider report.
While Daryanani was short on specifics on how the iWatch will hit it off with Apple fans, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac spelled out in a new report the key killer features that will make the wearable device an indispensable companion of the iPhone 6.
The smartwatch will serve both as the handset's extension - allowing users to initiate and receive calls or text messages - and a standalone device, able to perform online searches and access iOS applications independent of the iPhone 6.
Gurman is also convinced that the iWatch is designed to play a key role in Apple's thrust of transforming the iPhone and iPad as tools for a healthy lifestyle. The timepiece, he added, is likely to be integrated with the soon-to-arrive HealthKit and Health app.
As mentioned above, release dates of the iPhone 6 and the iWatch will likely be on September 2014 with the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 to follow either in late October or early November.