The new iPhone couldn’t come at a better time for Apple, fresh off a victory in its thermonuclear patent war with Samsung and in need of a quarterly revenue spike, industry watchers said yesterday.
Apple is expected to unveil its next-generation iPhone on Sept. 12 — and then have the hot gadget in stores by Sept. 21, according to multiple reports.
That will give the tech titan nine days of expected red-hot sales to top off its fiscal fourth quarter.
“We believe Apple has an even stronger competitive market position ahead of its iPhone 5 and other anticipated product launches,” Canaccord Genuity wrote in a note to clients yesterday.
Weeks after the iPhone 5 hits, in October, Apple’s iPad Mini, a tablet that is expected to measure 7.85 inches, will hit stores.
The Mini could be designed more like a bigger iPod Touch than like a smaller iPad.
Apple’s court victory over Samsung last week paves the way for an even more dominant iPhone launch than anticipated, according to analysts, many of whom already expected the phone to be the hottest consumer electronics launch in history.
Samsung was tagged with a more than $1 billion tab for its myriad Android-based mobile devices that a California jury found violate Apple patents.
Samsung, Apple’s closest smartphone rival, faces a possible sales ban and may need to go back and redesign upcoming products. Meanwhile, Apple will push ahead, unfettered, with its product rollouts.
Analysts predict the next iPhone could sell to the tune of 250 million or more.
It’s ironic that Apple’s next devices are expected to borrow some design elements from rivals that have proved popular with the public. Android phones, based on Google software, typically have a larger screen than Apple’s phones, and tablet-makers like Amazon have had success with smaller models than the iPad.
Now, the iPhone 5 is expected to sport a larger screen, and the iPad Mini is expected to come in closer to 7 inches than 10 inches.
Apple founder Steve Jobs, who died last year, famously was against 7-inch tablets, but their popularity with consumers has been undeniable.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire, at 7 inches, has been its best-selling device, and the e-commerce giant is keeping the pressure on Apple with its own product launches in early September, likely ahead of Apple’s new mini tablet and iPhone.
Also, rivals not affiliated with the Android ecosytstem hope the Samsung ruling puts them in a better position to compete.
Microsoft and Nokia are pushing ahead with Windows 8 mobile devices, and plan to show off new phones ahead of the iPhone 5, as well.
Apple stock yesterday continued to break records, closing at $675.68, up 1.9 percent.
Samsung’s Seoul-listed shares tumbled 7.5 percent — a loss of more than $12 billion in value.
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