Sales Of Apple's iPhone 6 Expected To Disappoint; iWatch Chances Just 50/50, Analyst Says

Apple will unveil two iPhone 6 models that include a mobile payment feature at its Sept. 9 event, but chances of an “iWatch” announcement are about 50/50, according to a report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

In the report, Munster writes that two iPhone 6 models, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other with a 5.5-inch display, will feature improved battery life despite those larger screens, along with a faster A8 chipset and more memory, or RAM, and arrive alongside new iOS 8 software.

Sales of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 6 won’t topple the 9 million record set by the iPhone 5 in 2013, according to the analyst. Instead, Apple will sell about 5.4 million units of both iPhone 6 models combined, Munster said in a report issued to investors on Tuesday, raising Apple’s price target from $105 to $120.

As far as the rumored iWatch, Munster gave it a 50 percent chance of being announced next Tuesday, but he says he did not expect it to be the “driver” behind a new mobile payment feature. Munster said there is a 70 percent chance of Apple including some way to make payments in the iPhone 6, if not a full-fledged “payment platform.”

Munster may or may not be right, as the analyst has famously had a few misses along with his hits when making predictions about Apple. He was often quoted in 2012 reports for predicting that Apple would introduce an all-in-one television instead of just a set-top box. As of 2013, Munster was still claiming that an Apple television was on the way, but later reports said that some type of cable box hardware is more likely.

Munster expects Apple to include an improved camera in both iPhone 6 models, and a sapphire screen on the larger one. Munster calls the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 the 6L, while others call the phablet the “iPhone Air.” Nothing about either new iPhone model has been confirmed by Apple.

The Piper Jaffray analyst also expects that both new iPhone 6 models will feature an NFC, or near-field communications chip. It's been long rumored that Apple would introduce such a feature into the iPhone line – here’s a 2012 Gizmodo report that said the tech was “maybe” coming in the iPhone 5 – but Munster wrote that he expects Apple to unveil the tech along with a clever new way of showing it off.