Wall Street watching early iPhone sales nervously

[Geek-9pm]

Alistair Barr, USA TODAY 8:06 p.m. EDT September 19, 2013

Analysts expect Apple to sell between five million and 7.75 million new iPhones over this coming weekend.

SAN FRANCISCO — When Apple launches new products, Wall Street always watches closely. But this weekend, there's more on the line.

With questions swirling about the company's strategy and rising competition, investors will be scrutinizing every data point more than usual — including the length of every line outside Apple stores — as two new iPhones go on sale Friday.

"This launch is more important than the past couple because of the fall in Apple's stock price," said Brian Colello, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "During virtually every other launch, the outlook for the company has been more optimistic than what we see today."

When Apple launched the iPhone 5 a year ago, the stock was trading above $700. Since then, it has slumped by a third and closed at $472.30 Thursday.

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[DaveLembke]

5 million to 7.75 million is a lot to sell. Sure you will have some buying them for the very first time and others wanting upgrades, but it seems like the market is reaching a saturation point between people who already have the prior iPhones and those who are using other than Apple products. I am thinking that like 3.5 million may be a more realistic figure for actual sales with the rest of them sitting in boxes until sold later.