White iPhone 4 “Mystique” Could Add 1-1.5 Million Unit Sales

The long delay of the white iPhone 4 that finally ships on April 28th (Thursday) has effectively added “mystique and scarcity value” that will result in even higher unit sales of the product for Apple, according to Ticonderoga analyst Brian White. The analyst believes that this could add sales of between 1 million and 1.5 million units per quarter to the genre-defining device.

“The purchase of consumer electronic devices is not always a completely rational decision, and people buy Apple products for many different reasons, including status, aesthetics, functionality, quality and the ‘cool factor,’ ” Mr. White said in a research note obtained by The San Jose Mercury News.

He added, “In our view, this delay has created a certain mystique and scarcity value around the white iPhone 4 that we believe could drive incremental iPhone 4 purchases in the range of 1 million to 1.5 million units per quarter until the iPhone 5 potentially comes to market in September.”

The white iPhone 4 has been all the press rage Wednesday after Apple announced the device would finally go on sale Thursday. Tales of the difficulties in making the device work to Apple’s standards battled the company’s statements on privacy and data tracking throughout the day.

Shares in AAPL moved lower Wednesday, ending the day at US$350.15, down $0.270 (-0.08%), on light volume of 12.7 million shares trading hands.

Big Piles of White iPhone 4 Money

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.