A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in downtown Shanghai September 10, 2013.
A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in downtown Shanghai September 10, 2013. Reuters

Will the iPhone 6 release date come a little sooner in the face of forecasted weaker results for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the current quarter, likely extending far into the second half of 2014?

While Forbes reported this week that Apple just achieved an impressive milestone - selling its 500 millionth iPhone in March - the same publication also noted that for Q1 2014, the iPhone maker would only clear 38 million units of its flagship device.

Compare to other device makers, the numbers seem to overwhelm but by Apple's standard - they hardly point to growth path. The likelihood is, the iPhone maker will again disappoint a market that is so used to receiving incredible results from the tech giant.

Analysts blame the lack of innovation lately from the company but Tero Kuittinen of BGR is more specific - the past three iPhones, namely the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, are less thrilling.

Proof of this, Kuittinen added, is Apple missed its sales target for the December 2013 quarter by five million, which represents huge numbers by any measure. And the prospect is not getting any brighter for Apple in the immediate quarters ahead.

This is especially true if the company will continue its reliance on the current bunch of iPhone models to deliver the goods, leading Kuittinen to conclude that "spring iPhone sales are (also) looking extremely weak," for Apple.

It should be noted too that Apple's growth plans are hampered too not only by the absence of a freshly-built iPhone with the expected killer features but also by emerging market forces - specifically identified by experts as the high-end smartphone market saturation.

This trend is hurting both Apple and its chief rival, Samsung, analysts said, and is in fact poised to annihilate other market players should they fail to adjust.

Global consumers are not paying too much attention, at least not in the way that Apple has intended, on the existing iPhone builds as Kuittinen argued that "the relative disappointment over the iPhone 5s and 5c will likely shorten their life spans."

Instead, "the iPhone 6 is already looming large in the public imagination, with rumours about sapphire screens and new display sizes creating expectations for a substantially improved device," the BGR writer offered.

At the moment, Apple seems to count on a projected demand surge coming from iPhone fans in China and other emerging markets but if such expectations fail to take form then the tech giant will need to step on the gas and accelerate the market entry of its next iPhone.

What the figures will say after the June 2014 quarter, which Kuittinen said would likely again miss the mark, could finally convince Apple that it needs to unleash the iPhone 6 a bit earlier than planned.

And if on release date, the iPhone 6 will sport the following rumoured killer specs and features - a 4.7-inch display using Quantum Dot technology, a robust Liquidmetal casing combined with sapphire glass and coating, a slimmer and lighter form-factor, a 64-bit A8 chip, longer operating hours and iOS 8 - then Apple is likely to close out the year a growth and looking forward company.