Apple Forecasted to Sell Record-Breaking 240+ Million iPhones in 2021

Apple is on a trajectory to sell a record-breaking 240-250 million iPhones in the 2021 fiscal year, topping a previous record of 231 million iPhones sold in the 2015 fiscal year, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

iphone 12 pro video colors
"While the Street is forecasting roughly 220 million iPhone units for FY21, we believe based on this current trajectory and in a bull case Cupertino still has potential to sell north of 240 million units (~250 million could be in the cards - an eye popping figure) which would easily eclipse the previous Apple record of 231 million units sold in FY15," said Ives, in a research note shared with MacRumors today.

Ives estimates that 350 million iPhone users worldwide are currently "in the window of an upgrade opportunity," which he believes is "translating into an unprecedented supercycle upgrade cycle" for Apple this year.

If this forecast proves to be accurate, the iPhone 12 lineup could prove to be the most popular since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which saw strong demand following their September 2014 launch due to their larger screen sizes. Samsung already offered multiple smartphones with screen sizes at or beyond the 5-inch mark at the time.

Tag: Wedbush

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Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
55 months ago
Get your passport ready folks!. Get ready to pre-order this September. 5 months to ago...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cosmosent Avatar
55 months ago
Ives is an "AAPL Cheerleader" masquerading as a so-called Pro Stock Analyst, nothing more, nothing less.

CNBC should make him wear a Cheerleader "skirt" whenever he comes on their show.

BTW, Ives has been saying it's gonna be a Supercycle for years now !
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleguy123 Avatar
55 months ago
That’s a lot.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IIGS User Avatar
55 months ago
The 12/12Pro is an excellent product that combined a significant positive change in form factor with an upgrade in capabilities. No wonder it's a big seller.

Add in all the extra money some people have sitting around the house, no commuting, eating in, getting free money from the government, and it's gotta go SOMEWHERE.

I'm one of those people who got 3 checks from the government the past year, kept my job, got a half decent raise (due to longevity increases build into a CBA), and worked a nice chunk of OT that wouldn't have been there not for 'Rona.

I got the 'Rona, didn't really get sick (I got sick to my stomach when I saw the positive test the morning I woke up, but otherwise I was fine) but my time off was paid. My wife missed a few days pay due to procedural that came about due to her work status, but other than that, we faired pretty well.

I've been fully vaccinated since March. She got her second shot last Saturday. Had Pfizer arm for about 2 days (I got Moderna and had almost no side effects).

BTW, when the 5G UW works (down the beach, and in certain parts of the city) it's blazing fast. The DE and MD beaches have widespread 5G UW coverage now...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tranceking26 Avatar
55 months ago
That's a lot of iPhones!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
55 months ago
I’m at a loss for how these sales volumes are physically possible.

How much income does one need for the purchase of an iPhone to be reasonable? I’m feeling like people making under $30K/year probably shouldn’t be dropping $2K on a phone. But you’re in the global top 1% if you’re making $30K/year or more. The world population is 8B, so the population who can reasonably afford an iPhone is around 80M.

But those people don’t buy a new phone every year. They only buy a new phone every 2-3 years. So really this puts a maximum on the number of sales possible around 30M. Oh, and a lot of these people who could buy an iPhone could also buy an Android instead. So let’s say 20M/year.

Maybe I should look at this from the opposite direction. Let’s say we’re talking 360M phone sales costing as much as Apple’s do. Factor in that people only buy every 2-3 years and the population of people buying these phones is around 750M - let’s just say it’s 10% of the global population. You need an annual income of $15K to be in this group. This means people are spending over 14% of their pretax income on owning a smartphone. Probably 20% post tax.

What about a house? Food? Clothing? Power? Water? A car? Saving for retirement?

Should we blame Apple for why people haven’t saved enough to retire, or why they can’t afford rent? I mean, yeah, personal responsibility and all that... but IDK, maybe our schools should be better funded and people wouldn’t be stupidly buying these phones they can’t afford?

Has anyone bought a used iPhone instead? That’s what I did - I got an 8+ when it was a year old for 50% of what it would have been new...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)