Apple expected to ship 100M 6.1" LCD iPhone units priced at $700-$800 in late 2018

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in iPhone
Adding to expectations that the new 6.1-inch iPhone with LCD display will be a blockbuster success, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on Wednesday that he expects the company will ship a whopping 100 million units in the second half of 2018.




Kuo, of KGI Securities, believes the 6.1-inch handset will be priced between $699 and $799, with the pricing determining how many units Apple will ship. If the company skews on the lower end, he sees shipments reaching as high as 115 million units.

The question for Apple, Kuo believes, is whether or not the company sees the 6.1-inch model as the successor for both the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

In all, he believes the 6.1-inch iPhone will account for about 50 percent of new models set to ship in the second half of 2018.

Kuo has repeatedly said he believes the 6.1-inch iPhone will outsell OLED models when it arrives later this year. The handset is believed to sport an LCD screen, like legacy iPhone models, allowing it to be cheaper than the iPhone X lineup.

It's expected that Apple will introduce at least three new handsets this year, all of which will sport Face ID and ditch the home button. In addition to a successor to the iPhone X and the LCD model, Apple is also said to be working on a jumbo-sized iPhone X variant with a 6.5-inch OLED display.




Kuo previously predicted that the 6.1-inch phone will cost between $700 and $800, allowing it to take the place of the current iPhone 8 lineup. By using cheaper parts than the iPhone X, it will also allow it to undercut the premium price of that $999-and-up device, making it more palatable for some consumers.

The 6.1-inch iPhone is rumored to lack 3D Touch and have 3 gigabytes of RAM, compared to 4 gigabytes in the OLED models. Apple is also believed to be planning to use a non-stacked motherboard, and a cheaper rectangular-shaped battery.

Kuo expects the new LCD model will feature the same camera "notch" as found on the iPhone X, accommodating the Face ID array, but it will not sport a true edge-to-edge display, because of the limitations of LCD technology.

Kuo has been a strong source of information on Apple's future products for years. Last year, he correctly forecast many of Apple's future product plans, including numerous details about the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, though he does not have a perfect track record.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    muthuk_vanalingammuthuk_vanalingam Posts: 1,333member
    Did we not hear similar 100+ million numbers throughout last year for the alleged super-cycle, only to end up with a different kind of super-cycle: 78 million actual iphone sales but revenues still reaching the all-time high? So nobody can even guess the future close enough, leave alone accurately. Not worth talking about.
    edited February 2018 racerhomie3mavemufc
  • Reply 2 of 12
    peterhartpeterhart Posts: 157member
    Not knowing too much about this, why might it lack 3D Touch? 
  • Reply 3 of 12
    nhughesnhughes Posts: 770editor
    peterhart said:
    Not knowing too much about this, why might it lack 3D Touch? 
    That’s the oddest part of the rumor, and one I suspect may ultimately be wrong.
    racerhomie3peterhartmavemufcbshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 12
    AI_liasAI_lias Posts: 434member
    Isn't that phone too large to see in such high numbers? I don't know the most recent split between the 8 and 8 Plus, did the 8 Plus overtake the 8 already. To me, this 6.1" which is even bigger than the X, though smaller than the Plus, is too big to sell in those numbers.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    nhughesnhughes Posts: 770editor
    AI_lias said:
    Isn't that phone too large to see in such high numbers? I don't know the most recent split between the 8 and 8 Plus, did the 8 Plus overtake the 8 already. To me, this 6.1" which is even bigger than the X, though smaller than the Plus, is too big to sell in those numbers.
    I agree with your sentiment (I hate giant phones), but will add that shipping in late 2018 does not necessarily = selling in late 2018. There will inevitably be some channel fill that will carry over to 2019 as well. If this phone ships in mid September, you’re looking at 100 million sales between then and the end of March, essentially. Seems doable.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,913member
    6.1" LCD iPhone will sell lot because of comparison to OLED version and price. Why would I buy 5.8" at higher price than slightly bigger screen at much lower price unless somehow Apple can keep the price difference to reasonable.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    DavidAlGregoryDavidAlGregory Posts: 214member
    Do not want a Face ID Phone and do not want one without a physical home button. Sure do not want to pay these outlandish prices.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    tylersdadtylersdad Posts: 310member
    Why are other smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung, Google, and LG, able to keep their premium OLED phones under $850 and Apple is not?

    We've seen from past reports that the difference in the cost of OLED and LCD isn't hundreds of dollars.
    albegarc
  • Reply 9 of 12
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member
    tylersdad said:
    Why are other smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung, Google, and LG, able to keep their premium OLED phones under $850 and Apple is not?

    We've seen from past reports that the difference in the cost of OLED and LCD isn't hundreds of dollars.
    Not all OLED are equal. That is the same as LCD as well.

    Not all of those OLED are Edge to Edge like Apple is. By Edge I mean it curve around the Notch and corners.

    OLED is only part of the cost equation. And we all know Apple charges a premium with their product.
    albegarcwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 12
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member
    nhughes said:
    AI_lias said:
    Isn't that phone too large to see in such high numbers? I don't know the most recent split between the 8 and 8 Plus, did the 8 Plus overtake the 8 already. To me, this 6.1" which is even bigger than the X, though smaller than the Plus, is too big to sell in those numbers.
    I agree with your sentiment (I hate giant phones), but will add that shipping in late 2018 does not necessarily = selling in late 2018. There will inevitably be some channel fill that will carry over to 2019 as well. If this phone ships in mid September, you’re looking at 100 million sales between then and the end of March, essentially. Seems doable.
    For iPhone, shipping means selling. They tabulate the number of "sell-through" iPhone.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 12
    mavemufcmavemufc Posts: 326member
    Predicting sales of a phone that hasn’t even been announced yet, it really is stupid.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 12
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    nhughes said:
    peterhart said:
    Not knowing too much about this, why might it lack 3D Touch? 
    That’s the oddest part of the rumor, and one I suspect may ultimately be wrong.
    So that they can add support for the Apple Pencil.   Did I read an article here that there were problems implementing both 3D Touch and The Pencil together.
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