No Earlier iPhone 7 Release Date As iPhone 6 Remains Hot With Projected 87M Sales By Sept 2015

Apple is unlikely to push for an earlier iPhone 7 release date as the tech giant’s current flagships, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, are doing much better than previous models. A new report indicates that the company will clear nearly 90 million new iPhones before the next iPhone is unveiled the closing months of 2015.

Previously, new iPhones start to lose significant steam following two consecutive quarters of dominating the smartphone market and hauling in more cash for Apple. This gave rise to speculations that to keep the cash register ringing, the U.S-based company could opt for an early refresh and unboxed its 2015 flagships in advance – in this case the iPhone 7.

But that is unlikely to happen as the latest report from Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray indicate that the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus are most likely to attract the most buys in the mobile device market during the June and September 2015 quarters respectively. Record sales, thanks to the twin Apple flagships, will propel AAPL shares to a high of $160, Munster forecasted, according to a report by Apple Insider.

The hottest iPhone ever

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus bannered a record December quarter in 2014 for Apple when the devices lured in more than 74 million buys. While the numbers will be noticeably lower for June and September this 2015, they will remain high when compared to sales figures in the past few years.

The latest iPhone sales momentum will remain impressive, the Piper Jaffray analyst said, and as testament to this he estimated more than 87 million unit sales in the immediate two quarters ahead. For June, Apple will sell 42.7 million iPhones to global consumers. That will be followed by 45.1 million unit sales in the following period.

That would mean that by September 2015, nearly 88 million freshly-minted iPhones will be activated or just weeks prior to the perceived arrival of the upcoming models – the iPhone 7 that is. The projection by Munster essentially suggests that Apple will see no need to rush the replacement for the iPhone 6.

With the chance low that the next iPhone will arrive earlier than the iPhone 6 is 2014, the iPhone 7 release date should be on October 2015 with the official introduction likely set on late September. Among the killer features believed packed with the handset is the combo of A9 application processor and iOS 9 plus the Force Touch screen sensor, which Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities said is the main reason Apple is bypassing the iPhone 6S this year.

To report problems or leave feedback on this article, email: r.pineda@ibtimes.com.au.