Morgan Stanley: iPhone sales may double in 2009.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 01:03 PM | Posted by kazouz

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple shares to $210 from $185, saying it expects the company’s iPhone unit sales to double in 2009 at the new $199 price point, Reuters reports.

“We believe the market generally expects a doubling of iPhone units with the lower price point ($199) and we believe this is realistic, if not conservative,” the investment bank said in a note.

Morgan Stanley expects 27 million iPhones to be sold in calendar year 2009 with an average revenue of $550 per unit.

The investment bank said Apple’s operating leverage remains understated and the mass market price and distribution of the new 3G iPhone will be a key driver of higher margin software and service revenues over time.

Shares of Apple closed at $181.43 Tuesday on Nasdaq.