May 12, 2014 08:20 PM EDT
iPhone 6 Rumors: Apple Expects Sales to Increase 20 Percent

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said this week that based on conversations with suppliers around the world, the iPhone 6 could help Apple smartphone sales increase by as much as 20 percent compared to sales after the iPhone 5S launched in September 2013.

Huberty visited a number of technology industry component suppliers recently, all of which shared similar predictions for the next iPhone device.

The analyst said in a note to investors on Monday that she sees no significant bottleneck for iPhone 6 components. This would mean that the iPhone company and its suppliers shouldn't have a hard time keeping up with consumer demand, which has been a major problem in the past.

Apple doesn't know exactly how well the iPhone 5S sold at launch compared to the iPhone 5 launch, since the company doesn't break down iPhone sales by model.

The California-based company did say iPhone sales in December 2013 increased just 6.7 percent year over year, which is a much slower growth rate than the previous year, according to AppleInsider.com.

Most suppliers feel that the next Apple smartphone, which is expected to be 4.7-inches, could help sales increase as the company looks to compete with Samsung's line of huge smartphone devices.

Huberty, for one, believes that the next iPhone will be at least $20 to $30 more than the iPhone 5S, mainly because of the increased display size and improved camera features.

"However, we don't detect any abnormal component pricing pressure from Apple suggesting lower inventory, deprecation, and warranty costs along with the potential for a modest price increase and/or NAND mix change may help digest the higher (bill of materials)," said Huberty.

Huberty also feels that 2014 will be a weak year for tablets, including Apple's iPad.

Suppliers have told her that iPad shipments will drop at least 1 percent in the second half of 2014, and continue through 2015.

Suppliers are currently skeptical when it comes to wearable devices though.

Huberty predicts that if Apple were to release its rumored iWatch, it could outsell the iPad in its first quarter available, according to AppleInsider.com.

Apple has not commented publicly regarding its next iPhone or an iWatch yet.

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