Edible Apple

In the wake of Apple processing over 2 million iPhone 5 orders in the first 24 hours of availability, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has upped his projections for iPhone sales on launch weekend which is just two days away.

Given the 2 million pre-orders, we remain confident that Apple can deliver 8 million (range of 6-10 million) iPhones in the launch weekend. The reason we are confident in the 8 million is two-fold. First, initial 24 hour pre-orders for the iPhone 5 were up 100% y/y from the iPhone 4S. Last year, pre-orders accounted for 25% of total weekend launch unit sales. Assuming the same initial pre-order/retail distribution, the pre-order total would suggest 8 million launch units.