At a special event entitled, "Original Passion, New Ideas,"
Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL
) is rumored to introduce a new iPhone, as well as the next iPad.
According to this
Gizmorati exclusive
, an "inside source" has told the publication that Apple plans to
celebrate the iPhone's six-year anniversary by holding the event
on June 29. Gizmorati said that this news has also been confirmed
by an unnamed third-party source.
No other details were provided, though the tech publication
speculates that Apple will hold the event at its headquarters in
Cupertino, California.
While it is wholly possible that Apple will hold an event in
June, investors should approach this news with a great deal of
caution. Apple has not held a major event since the iPad Mini was
unveiled last fall. Thus, it is easy to predict that Apple will
do so -- and introduce some new products -- within the next
couple of months.
It is also easy to assume that the iPhone's sixth anniversary
might hold special significant to Apple. However, if the company
was going to have an event to commemorate the iPhone's launch and
success, why wouldn't it have been held on June 29, 2012 or June
29, 2011? What makes the sixth-year anniversary more significant
than the fifth- or fourth-year anniversaries?
Apple chose to release the last two iPhone upgrades -- the
iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 -- during the fall. This seems to be the
golden time for Apple products, as evidenced by the
record-breaking sales of the
iPhone 5
and
iPad Mini/iPad 4
.
While Apple has been known to change release dates without
warning, this Gizmorati report is the only reason to believe that
the company will do it again.
Other reports have claimed that the next iPhone will
not ship before August 2013
. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo agrees that the biggest
Apple products are likely to be saved for the
third and fourth quarters
.
Based on the sales of the existing iPhone models, it may be in
Apple's best interest to wait.
During the fiscal 2013 first quarter (ended December 29,
2012), Apple sold
47.8 million iPhones
, greatly surpassing the
37 million iPhones
sold during the year ago period.
Apple also achieved
record sales
during the fiscal 2012 fourth quarter (ended September 29,
2012).
Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer
of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or
louis@benzingapro.com. Follow him
@LouisBedigianBZ
(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
advice. All rights reserved.
Gain access to more investing ideas, tools & education.
Get Started on Marketfy, the first ever curated
& verified Marketplace for everything trading.