Apple Projected to Ship 70 Million iPhone 6 Units This Year

Taiwanese metal casing manufacturer Catcher Technology is expected to benefit from this year’s Apple orders, as analysts are projecting a 35%–40% increase in iPhone 6 unit shipments compared to the previous version, reports the China Post (via GforGames).

Iphone rear

To put that into numbers, Catcher Technology is expected to ship about 10.5 million iPhone 6 rear casings by the end of this year, representing roughly 10%–20% of total iPhone 6 orders, meaning Apple will ship about 70 million this year alone.

In a separate report, a Barclays analyst believes Catcher, Apple’s supplier, will likely receive the orders in the second half of the year, putting the launch in the fall, which is in line with Apple’s iPhone release cycle.

Since Apple is rumoured to be increasing the iPhone’s display size to at least 4.7 inches, there are two main factors that could drive sales of the new model(s): first, there is the screen size, and secondly, roughly 225 million older iPhones will be up for a replacement over the iPhone 6’s life cycle from September this year to August next year, at least according to CLSA’s head of technology research, Nicolas Baratte.

Of those 225 million older iPhones, 131 million are 3.5-inch models such as the iPhone 4S, the brokerage said.

“We concur that the launch of larger iPhones [4.7” and 5.5”] should trigger a larger replacement cycle as we believe that many smartphone users favor a display size of 4.5” or larger,” Baratte wrote in a note to clients on April 13.

Apple is expected to release two new iPhone models this year, one with a 4-7-inch display, and a second with a 5.5-inch screen. The latter, however, is reportedly facing production issues, so it may be delayed until next year, if we can believe the rumour mill.

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