iPhone 6 Release Date Will Banner Apple’s 197M Unit Sales for FY2015; iWatch to Clear 60M – Analysts

The iPhone 6 on its September 2014 release date is poised to trigger record sales number for Apple as well as its rumoured companion timepiece - the iWatch, new forecasts from analysts have indicated today.

This despite the latest projection from Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities that 5.5-inch iPhone 6 phablet will have to wait until the early months of 2015 for unboxing.

195 million iPhone sales in 2015

But in a new research note, investment firm Barclays gave its vote of confidence to Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying that the company chief's management approach will propel AAPL shares to $110 per unit.

"Tim Cook has solidified his strategy and re-gained the confidence of Apple stakeholders in many ways - reversing many of the warning signs we saw earlier in the year," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes was reported as saying by Apple Insider in the note.

As a result, the iPhone maker is well positioned for another impressive performance in fiscal year 2014, likely clearing some 172 million iPhones in closing the period, Reitzes said. Going to FY-2015, the momentum from the previous year will surely be sustained and will lead to total sales of 197 million iPhones, the analyst added.

While he did not mention, Reitzes is likely basing his numbers on the incredible prospects attached with Apple's iPhone 6 push this year. Per Kuo, the next iPhone will unpack in two models - one bearing a 4.7-inch screen and the other to tussle with Android and Windows phablets with its 5.5-inch front panel.

The handsets are expected to be displayed on store shelves beginning on September 19 though the KGI analyst is under the impression that only the regular iPhone 6 will appear as debut of the phablet-size edition will likely be delayed by complicated production glitches.

To be conservative, the bigger of the iPhone 6 models will come out of the box by late 2014 or early 2015, Kuo reported.

The iWatch magic

Another cash cow in the making for Apple is the iWatch, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley said in a new report.

The Apple smartwatch will retail at a pricey $300 yet according to Huberty, the device will still sell some 60 million units, tops, in the first 12 months of its availability. This new revenue machine generator is set to fetch an estimated $9 billion more of cash inflow for the tech giant by next year, CNET reported Huberty as saying.

The analyst, however, reminded that the iWatch is not deemed as an absolute success for Apple, selling only below the 30 million mark or even far below. But the device to become a failure is a scenario that has a slim chance of happening, she clarified.

Kuo said last week that the iWatch mass production will start November this year, likely leading to the possibility of a simultaneous release date with that of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 either on December 2014 or January 2015.