By releasing its supposed 2013 flagship, the iPhone 5S, much earlier than its rumoured September release date, Apple will likely exceed its Q3 2013 earnings guidance of up to $35.5 billion, a new report said.

According to Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, the September global rollout for the 5S would only give Apple a few days to rake in record number of sales for the upcoming handset. The highest it could attain is to match the same figures posted by the iPhone 5 a week after its availability in the same month in 2012.

Whereas if Apple would push out the 5S, say in August, the company could easily top its maximum gross margin growth of 35 per cent, Ms Huberty hinted.

The analyst is convinced that present market consensus for the iPhone 5S debut is unrealistically high, considering that the iOS 7-powered smartphone would only be in store shelves for a short time before the third quarter of 2013 ends.

And while the outlook for the 5S is not too rosy, mainly because of the timing of its launch date, Ms Huberty is upbeat on Apple's June quarter results for the year, predicting that up to 32 million iPhones would be shipped out by the tech titan.

She noted, however, that the bulk of the purchases during the three-month period were focused on older versions - the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, the prices of which Apple and its distributing partners have significantly discounted.

Notwithstanding the price cuts, Apple stands to pocket revenues of over $35 billion, which according to Ms Huberty, could be replicated or even surpassed in the following quarter given the iPhone maker will bring the 5S to consumers' hands earlier than expected.

In the earlier part of 2013, Ms Huberty said that killer features would enable the iPhone 5S to beat down the growing challenges being posed by upscale Android rivals, which for the remaining months of 2013 will be represented by Google's Nexus 5, Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, Sony's Xperia Z and Xperia Z Ultra, plus the HTC One and HTC One Mega.

The 5S is likely to sport the same iPhone 5 body-build but with faster processor, iOS 7 platform, a 12MP main shooter and Retina+ display resolution on a 4.3-inch screen on its reported September release date.