On December 24, the Financial Associated Press (Editor Huang Junzhi) reported that Wall Street investment bank Wedbush Securities stated on Monday that Apple's newly launched iPhone 16 series smartphones will experience a strong holiday sales season this year, while the "Asia Vets" of Apple has just begun to roll out into the market.

Wedbush reiterated its "Outperform" rating on Apple’s stock price, with a 12-month Target Price of up to $300, corresponding to a total Market Cap expectation of as high as $4.5 trillion. It is worth mentioning that the firm additionally anticipates that Apple's Market Cap may exceed the $4 trillion mark by early next year.

Specifically, the firm's notable Analyst Dan Ives pointed out in a recent report that Apple is about to experience a strong holiday sales season, which could kick off a "super cycle," as hundreds of millions of people globally are preparing to upgrade to new iPhones with AI capabilities in the coming months.

According to Ives' estimates, around 0.3 billion iPhones worldwide have not been upgraded for over four years. He believes that with the start of the AI-driven upgrade cycle for Apple, the company may sell a record 0.24 billion new iPhones or more in fiscal year 2025 (ending in September next year). His prediction is higher than the market's general expectation of 0.2076 billion units.

According to our recent survey of Apple's supply chain, we believe that Apple is about to usher in a very strong holiday sales season, as the trend of existing user groups upgrading to the iPhone 16 series models will extend into the shopping season covering the Christmas holiday and New Year holiday, the report states.

Ives expects that from now on, the sales advantage of the iPhone will be the largest since the fiscal year 2010.

He wrote, "We believe that the success of the iPhone 16, along with the upcoming strong holiday sales season, will mark the starting point for Apple's growth revival in the next 12 to 18 months, and this recovery will begin in this December quarter."

He further pointed out, "Importantly, 'Apple AI' has not yet been launched in China or many other countries. This means that the iPhone replacement demand in these core markets has not been fully stimulated. We anticipate that the release schedule for AI systems in these countries may be around April, and we believe that iPhone products will be an important channel for many global consumers to access this groundbreaking innovation of generative AI."

"At the same time, a Chinese technology partner will also be designated soon to drive the launch timing of Apple AI in this key region," he added.

Earlier this month, media reports indicated that Apple has been in deep negotiations with Chinese technology giants Tencent and ByteDance regarding collaboration on Apple AI in China. According to earlier media reports, the company has also been in talks with Baidu.

Data shows that in fiscal year 2024, Apple's revenue in Greater China is $66.95 billion, accounting for 17% of its total revenue of $391.04 billion. Ives estimates that there are 0.1 billion iPhones in China awaiting upgrade this year.

Ives emphasized that by early 2025, Apple will become the first company to reach a market cap of $4 trillion.