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During the UBS Media and Communications conference, AT&T’s CFO remarked that the company has almost broken its prior record for quarterly smartphone sales having sold 6 million smartphones in the first two months of December 2011 quarter. [1]
The company attributed this success in part to continued strong sales of Apple's iPhone 4S. This is another feather in Apple’s cap as optimism around iPhone 4S continues to grow.
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iPhone 4S sales could surprise
The good news around iPhone 4S continues as Apple tasted first success with the 4S when it announced that it sold more than 4 million iPhone 4S during the first weekend of its launch in October.
The iPhone 4S has also scored higher on customer satisfaction front according to a survey with 77% of the owners said that they are very satisfied with iPhone 4S compared to 72% of the iPhone 4 owners (iPhone 4S Beats iPhone 4 in Customer Survey, Augurs Well for Holiday Sales). Then it got a thumbs up from Consumer Reports after it recommended the new iPhone 4S to customers and now AT&T’s remarks about the iPhone 4S indicates that Apple is all set to deliver record quarterly results.
Investors should brace for a pleasant surprise
Last quarter, Apple’s investors were disappointed by its quarterly results when Apple could only sell less than expected 17 million iPhones. Samsung took advantage of this window and became the number one smartphone player in the world with a market share of 24% compared to only around 15% for Apple. [2]
There is a distinct possibility that Apple could now surprise analysts with record iPhone sales when it announces December quarter results early next year. The iPhone accounts for more than 50% of our $500 price estimate for Apple stock. Our price estimate for Apple stock is about 30% above market price.
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Notes:
- AT&T Says IPhone to Help Push Smartphone Sales to Record, Bloomberg, December 8th, 2011 [↩]
- Strategy Analytics: Samsung Becomes World?s Number One Smartphone Vendor in Q3 2011, October 27th, 2011 [↩]
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