Apple is gearing up for its most profitable quarter ever with the soon-to-be-released iPhone 6 that is expected to hit store shelves sometime in the third quarter, that is, if the numbers presented by analysts are a good indication of the iPhone 6's future success.
After analyzing Apple's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, analyst Katy Huberty of Stanley Morgan believes Apple's commitments to third-party manufacturers and service providers going off balance is indicative of just how huge the second half of 2014 is going to be for Apple. These commitments are typically pre-payments for product components, manufacturing equipment, outsourced manufacturing, research and development, communication services and advertising.
Huberty says Apple's commitment in all areas grew by almost half from last year, which is the biggest Apple has ever spent since the company introduced to the world the first iPhone in 2007.
"As well as they did with the iPhone this quarter, with all the rumors of a new iPhone [this fall], I was impressed with the results," says analyst Van Baker of Gartner. "That tells me when the next generation comes out, they're going to set the world on fire."
In its second-quarter earnings report, Apple said it sold a total of 32.5 million iPhones from April to June, seeing a 13% increase from the same period last year. The amount is slightly below investors' expectations of 32.8 million units, but given the constant decline of sales during quarters preceding the introduction of a new model, Apple's second quarter was a huge success.
Other analysts agree with Baker, who pointed out that Apple, which is expected to release a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variant for the iPhone 6, will fill in the demand from markets expecting a larger-screen iPhone. Baker notes that consumers in markets like China, where Apple has recently closed a partnership with the world's biggest carrier, the state-owned China Mobile, the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 is poised to do "extremely well."
"I am extremely bullish about the iPhone 6," says independent analyst Ben Thompson. "It's going to be unbelievably massive."
So far, what we know of Apple's latest, and rumored to be the greatest, iteration of its flagship smartphone has come from technology industry analysts with supply-chain sources coming from Apple's Asian partner manufacturers.
One of the most widely believed rumors is that Apple will release two variants of the iPhone 6 separately. The first variant, the one with a 4.7-inch screen, is expected to be announced at a keynote event in the second or third week of September, while the 5.5-inch phablet rumored to be the iPhone Air will be released in December this year or early next year.
Apple is also said to have chosen to manufacture its own displays made from sapphire glass instead of the industry-standard Gorilla Glass from Corning. This is largely fueled by the fact that Apple is building its own sapphire display factory in Mesa, Arizona and has filed several patents for sapphire-related products with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
French website Nowhereelse has published a video that details the most prevalent iPhone 6 rumors and includes a probability measure for each rumor.
