Analyst: Apple May Sell 17M iPhones in 2008

by , 11:55 AM EDT, May 8th, 2007

Apple is hoping to sell 10 million iPhone units in fiscal 2008, but Caris & Co. analyst Shebly Seyrafi thinks the company's estimates may be too low by about seven million. Mr. Seyrafi is estimating that Apple could sell as many as 17 million iPhones in 2008, and then jump up to 25 million units in fiscal 2009, according to Barron's.

During his keynote presentation at Macworld Expo in January 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated his company was targeting one percent of the smart phone market in the iPhone's first year. That would account for the 10 million unit figure Apple has targeted, but Mr. Seyrafi's projections put the iPhone over the one percent target by a healthy margin.

Mr. Seyrafi also expects Apple may sell 11.9 million iPods in the June 2007 quarter based on checks of the hard disk market. About a third of those sales will be for Apple's video capable iPod, indicating a strong market for the portable media player.

Mr. Seyrafi is raising his target price for Apple stock from US$110 to $115. He is also bumping up his fiscal 2007 EPS estimate from $3.43 to $3.52. For fiscal 2008, he is now predicting a 3.73 EPS, up from $3.54, and $4.42 in 2009, up from $4.21.

Apple stock is currently trading at $103.89, down 0.03 (0.03%).

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