Apple forecasts over 100 million iPhone 12 shipments in 2020

According to a new report from Digitimes, Apple has given out its iPhone shipment forecasts for 2020 to its key supply chain partners. These estimates claim that next year’s iPhone lineup should total over 100 million shipments, driven by the new design of the phones and their 5G support.

These figures are quite optimistic given the overall slowdown of the global smartphone shipments in the past year. For reference, Apple predicted 80 million sales of its iPhone 11 series.

The new forecast is noticeably more optimistic, but Apple is confident that more consumers will be willing to upgrade given the new redesign and, more importantly - the 5G support. With the pick up in 5G network availability across the world in 2020, Apple’s estimate may have its reasons.

On the other hand, iPhone sales have been stagnating over the past years, so it remains to be seen if the new design and features will be enough to entice a surge in buyers next year.

According to the latest rumors, Apple is due to release a total of four iPhones next year with the 12, 12Pro/12 Pro Max, and long-awaited SE 2. The Pro models are believed to come with 120Hz ProMotion OLED displays and smaller notches up top. The two flagship models are also expected to come with a 3D ToF camera around the back and 6GB RAM alongside the A14 Bionic SoC and mmWave 5G support.

The more affordable iPhone 12 is also believed to come with 5G connectivity but of the sub 6GHz variety. The vanilla iPhone 12 will also come with 4GB RAM and won’t get the ToF camera around the back. The SE 2, on the other hand, is expected to come in the shell of the iPhone 8 but with a more modern A13 Bionic chipset and 3 GB RAM.