Analysts predict small growth in iPhone sales in June quarter

CNN's Fortune asked 45 analysts – 28 Wall Street pros and 17 amateurs – how many iPhones Apple will sell in Q3 this year (ending in June as Apple has a shifted fiscal year). The average answer is 27.15 million or 4.3% up from last year's Q3 when Cupertino managed to sell 26.03 million.

The growth is pretty modest compared to 28% growth reported in Q3 last year and 113% the year before that. The slow growth points to the fact that the iPhone 5 wasn't exactly the upgrade everyone was dreaming about (last quarter only half of all iPhones sold were of the newest member).

The number also represents a pretty sharp drop compared to the 37.4 million iPhones shipped in Q2, but that is normal as everyone is already talking about the iPhone 5S (the rumor mill is on fire). It's also worth considering that the iPhone 5 and 4S will get a price cut once the 5S launches. Not to mention that all the talk of a budget iPhone (which might be unfounded) may have pushed some consumers to wait a while and see.

Amateur analysts have more faith in Apple (predicting 27.9 million iPhone sales) than their Wall Street counterparts (who think 26.7 million is the real number). Apple will release the real numbers in a week on July 23 and we'll see who's right.

Source | Via (in Russian)