iPhone Sales Could 'Skyrocket' With Apple Watch

ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Apple Watch Helping iPhone, Sales Could 'Skyrocket' Apple Inc. AAPL could be on the verge of announcing record-breaking iPhone sales -- and it might be due to the Apple Watch. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant will report its June quarter results on Tuesday, July 21 after the close. Apple is not expected to talk about Apple Watch sales unless sales meet or beat analyst expectations, but its impact could still be felt this quarter. "The iPhone is very strong," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga. "And the strength is coming from two dimensions. First and foremost our research indicated people are switching from Android to Apple at the expiration of [their cellular service] contract. The catalyst for the switch is the Apple Watch." Chowdhry said Apple's smartwatch is a "trigger" for consumers to adopt the iOS ecosystem. "If these people go with Android and [another] contract, they would be devoid of using Apple Watch," Chowdhry explained. "That is one reason why iPhone sales are going to skyrocket. These guys want to buy Apple Watch in the near future and it only works with iPhone."

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'What The Market Wants To See'

Investors might have a good quarter to look forward to, but that doesn't mean the market will react appropriately. "How Apple trades on the earnings report depends wholly on what the market wants to see," former hedge fund manager Cody Willard told Benzinga. "Apple Watch sales are going to disappoint. Apple iPhone sales are going to be through the roof." Willard, who serves as the chairman of Scutify (a financial social network) and Futr (a futuristic messaging app), said he doesn't know that the market cares about Apple's smartwatch. "I do know the market cares about how the iPhone is selling," he said. "Odds are you got a really great quarter shaped up from Apple. Odds are the market will reward it. But if I'm wrong about what the market cares about and it comes down to the Apple Watch slowdown, well, the stock could be hit." Regardless, Willard said he would "rather be wrong than short Apple near-term or long-term." Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.