How Big Will the iPhone 5 Launch Be?

By Trey Thoelcke Published Sep 11, 6:53AM EDT

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As the launch date of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 approaches (probably tomorrow), the speculation about how many units will be sold multiplies. Famous Apple-watcher Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray says 10 million by the end of September. Dozens of other Wall St. analysts have their own guesses, which are mostly less than Munster’s.

One of the unanswered questions is the extent to which 4G-enabled smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S III, which have been in the market for months, have satisfied the appetites of people who want handsets that work on superfast wireless networks.

One thing almost every observer believes is that iPhone 5 unit sales will be essential to unprecedented revenue for Apple’s final quarter of the calendar year, and to its stock price, which sits just short of $700 a share. There are plenty of people who believe that breakout sales of the iPhone 5 will take Apple’s stock to $1,000.

Douglas A. McIntyre

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.