Analyst Claims 256 GB iPhone 8 Will Cost $1,099

Echoing previous reports which suggested that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 flagship will be its most expensive iPhone yet — the first to cost over $1,000 — yet another well-connected analyst has recently chimed in with her own predictions that the handset will cost $1,000 or more depending on the desired configuration.

In her most recent research note, a copy of which was obtained over the weekend by CNBC, Goldman Sachs analyst, Simona Jankowski, laid out for investors her estimates about the pricing of Apple’s iPhone 8, suggesting that the company will offer only two variants of the handset: a model boasting 128 GB, which will cost $999, and a 256 GB variant which she believes will retail for $1,099.

Interestingly, Jankowski does not appear to believe that Apple will even offer a 64 GB iPhone 8 model — which could also be called the iPhone Edition — like TrendForce predicted earlier this year.

Currently, Apple’s most expensive iPhone is the 256 GB variant of its iPhone 7s Plus, which retails for $969. However Jankowski, in her note, also corroborated much of what we already know about Apple’s upcoming 10th anniversary flagship including how it will boast a larger OLED display, wireless charging, a revolutionary new front-facing camera system boasting 3D facial recognition technology, and how it will be capable of facilitating a variety of augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) applications.

Therefore, Jankowski argues, while the $1,000+ price tag may seem like an awfully steep proposition, in reality, it’s actually not unreasonably more expensive than Apple’s inherent, top-tier iPhone — though it will feature a plethora of next-generation technologies and advanced features that actually substantiate the $100-200 price increase. Still, we can’t help but hope that Apple ultimately decides to release a 64 GB variant that undercuts the $1,000 price.

“The first $1,000 iPhone can drive meaningful upside,” Jankowski wrote in the note to her clients, while adding that “The bottom line is that we are raising our FY18/19 EPS estimates further above consensus. We think the higher demand for the larger (5.8”) form factor will be supported by the fact that the iPhone 8 will have compelling new features not available in the smaller form factors.”

Meanwhile, the sheer fact that Apple may be raising the price tag of its upcoming iPhone 8 has also spurred Jankowski to raise her Average iPhone Selling Price (ASP) estimates to a level that’s even higher than Wall Street’s estimates. While Wall Street’s current ASP for all iPhones is hovering around $675 apiece, Jankowski predicts Apple will sell as many as 243 million iPhone units through the 2018 fiscal year, the iPhone’s ASP could climb to as much as $763 per unit.

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