No iPhone decline in sight, analysts say sales climbed 16% last quarter

As Apple gets ready to announce its financial results early next week, analysts are predicting another booming quarter for iPhone sales.

A round-up of professional and amateur analyst predictions from Fortune shows that Apple is likely to have shipped around 55-million iPhones in the past quarter, up 16% from the same period a year ago.

According to Fortune however, the real interest will be in how many iPhones it managed to sell before it struck a deal with China Mobile that has seen contract prices for the iPhone cut sharply in the country.

Another point of interest is that this is the closest Fortune’s amateur analysts have ever come to the predictions made by their professional counterparts.

The pros are a little more conservative though, with their estimates averaging out at around 54.1-million iPhones sold this quarter. The average among the amateurs meanwhile is significantly higher, with their predictions averaging out around the 57.1-million mark.

According to 9to5Mac, it’s not just good news for iPhone sales either.

It cites a report from CIRP, which suggests that iPad sales are also still climbing.

Even better news is that the iPads doing well are the newer models, with the iPad Air and iPad Mini Retina accounting for 57% of sales.