Analyst: The iPhone Was Apple’s Q1 Star

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) fiscal first quarter was a standout one for the iPhone, whose sales will beat consensus estimates when the company announces its earnings report on January 23, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said. According to Kuo, Apple’s “main products,” including the iPhone and the iPad, saw a growth in quarter-over-quarter shipments over the last three months of last year.

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Apple shipped 52 million units of the iPhone during the December-ending quarter to grow 93 percent quarter-over-quarter and 41 percent year-over-year, the analyst predicted, according to a research note seen by AppleInsider. Of all models of the smartphone, the iPhone 5 accounted for more than 35 million units, the iPhone 4S brought in 9.5 million unit sales, and the iPhone 4 followed with 7.3 million.

All product lines of the iPad, meanwhile, came up to a total of 23 million unit shipments for a 49 percent year-over-year increase, Kuo predicted. Of these, 9.3 million units of the fourth-generation iPad were shipped, while the iPad mini made up 8.2 million shipments. The smaller tablet, which was worrying analysts for its potential to cannibalize sales of its larger version, stayed short because of supply chain issues at display maker AU Optronic (NYSE:AUO), Kuo added.