Big-Screen iPhone 6 Will Mean Record Sales at Release Date

**Editor’s Note: Click here for our most recent ranking of hot-selling smartphones to see how Apple’s iPhone fared against the competition.**

Consumers will go gaga for Apple’s iPhone 6 when it debuts this fall, resulting in record sales. At least that’s what Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley says in his latest note on Apple.

“Based on our analysis of global iPhone sales by region, we believe consumers slowed the pace of iPhone upgrade purchases during the iPhone 5 and 5s product cycles,” Walkley said. “We believe the extended replacement rates combined with new larger-screen iPhones position Apple with its large installed base for record iPhone 6 sales.”

Apple is widely expected to unveil the newest version of its iconic smartphone late this summer or early fall. Most insiders predict it will feature a 4.7-inch display, which would be significantly larger than the four-inch screen that the iPhone 5s sports. A second version of the phone – one with a “phablet-like” screen size of 5.5 inches, is also rumored.

The Silicon Valley giant has faced increasing pressure to make its phones larger as rival Samsung regularly produces handsets with screen sizes of five inches and bigger.

Walkley is one of a number of analysts who believes that Apple might charge more for the new handset than it has for previous releases. The 16GB version of the 5s costs $199 with a carrier contract, with the 32GB version going for $299 and 64GB for $399.

“[The higher price will result] in stable gross margin trends for overall Apple but with a higher gross margin dollar contribution due to an increasing revenue mix from higher ASP iPhones,” he said.

In Canaccord’s view, it’s a good time to buy Apple stock. Walkley increased his target price from $102 to $112.

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