According to the official invitation, Apple will hold the first special event of 2022 with the theme of "high-energy transmission" at 2:00 a.m. Beijing time on March 9. According to many reports, the third-generation iPhone SE that supports 5G functions is about to be released, and the new iPad Air and Mac devices equipped with self-developed M series chips will also arrive. A few days ago, Wedbush Securities gave a prediction that the new products at this conference will become Apple's "popular products". Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives gave Apple a "outperform" rating, and he estimates that Apple could ship about 30 million units in the first year of the iPhone SE's release.
In a note to investors, Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, laid out his expectations for Apple's spring launch. Daniel Ives focuses on the "highlight" of Apple's special spring event: the new iPhone SE powered by A15 chips and 5G networks, which may be priced at $399.
Avis predicts that iPhone SE shipments could reach 30 million units within a year of their debut due to pent-up demand. Even the forecast of 30 million is "conservative."
There is no doubt that the 30 million shipments forecast is already higher than the sales estimate for the first year of the iPhone SE in 2020, and there are third parties who estimate that the iPhone SE will ship 24 million units in 2020. Ives believes that the low starting price of the iPhone SE will become an advantage in competing with similar products, helping Apple to seize more market share from Android competitors in the relative price segment.
Despite possible supply issues, the iPhone's growth is still going as expected. Ives called Apple stock a "safe option worth having" during periods of market volatility. "Overall, in a volatile geopolitical climate, investors generally tend to be risk-averse because the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has caused uneasiness in the market, and we believe that in this market storm, Apple is a company worth investing in," he said. Based on Wedbush's valuation for 2022, the analyst maintained an overweight rating on Apple and a 12-month price target of $200. And Ives is optimistic about Apple for other reasons — while other technology and auto companies have been delaying production after supply chain problems, while Apple is bucking the trend and launching new products, it shows that Apple can cope with unprecedented supply chain shortages around the world.