New iPhone Report Suggests Apple Will Sell 260M iPhones in 2017

A new report has surfaced from Rod Hall, an analyst with JPMorgan, that has to do with the iPhone 8, or iPhone Pro, and iPhone sales in general for 2017. According to Hall, Wall Street has underestimated the coming iPhone “super cycle.” BGR reports that Hall thinks that if the iPhone 8 is a compelling device that the upgrade cycle could be the biggest upgrade yet for Apple.

“We believe that Street numbers still fail to capture the size of the likely replacement cycle assuming Apple delivers a compelling product this year,” wrote Hall in a note for investors.

Hall thinks that Apple could sell as many as 260 million iPhones in 2017, a huge increase compared to the 211 million iPhones that Apple sold in 2016. Hall also goes on to add his opinions on what the iPhone 8, or iPhone Pro as he calls it, will have for a feature set. Hall is predicting a price tag of over $1000. He figures that Apple plans to try and control demand by pricing the smartphone higher than in the past.

Despite that big price tag, the analyst thinks that Apple’s new iPhone Pro will account for 41% of iPhone sales for Q4 2017. Hall expects to see the edge-to-edge OLED screen that has been rumored for a long time now. He also predicts a main camera that will allow refocusing of the image after it is taken called a “structured-light-augmented” main camera. The front camera is expected to have 3D facial recognition and 3D camera effects.

Interestingly Hall says that the iPhone Pro might lack a fingerprint sensor, but he thinks that is unlikely. Hall also gives his two cents on the size of the iPhone Pro, he says that the 5.85-inch iPhone will be the same physical size as a 5.5-inch iPhone. Hall says Apple considered making a 5.1-inch iPhone the same size as the 4.7-inch device but decided against the device. Both the iPhone Pro and the iPhone 7S are tipped to feature front and back glass and wireless charging. iPhone 7s models are said to get camera upgrades.