Apple Orders Lots More iPhones; More iPods, Macs (AAPL)

Last time FBR Research analyst Craig Berger checked in with Apple's suppliers, he reported that Apple had slightly cut its iPhone build orders, and could cut them again.

Good news: Now he says Apple has revised those orders "significantly higher;" he's estimating more than 15 million 3G iPhones plus 2 million old iPhones for 2008. That's well above the 10 million iPhones Apple hoped to sell this year, and above the 11 million iPhones Berger had modeled in May.

Other updates: He says Apple has ordered about 15% more iPods to be built in Q3 than his last check, including more iPod classic and iPod nano builds, and slightly fewer iPod touch builds. Berger hears a new, lower-priced iPod nano could be coming soon, as well as refreshed iPod classic and touch lines. (We have some suggestions for the iPod touch, if you're listening, Mr. Jobs.) This sounds to us like Apple's iPod unit sales will continue to recover -- but mostly because of cheaper iPods, which means revenue per unit will drop.

Berger also says Apple has slightly increased its Mac orders: Laptops up 10% from his last check and desktops up 20%.

All of this is good news for Apple, but also for Broadcom (BRCM) and Marvell (MRVL), two key Apple chip suppliers, he says.

See Also:
What's Next For Apple's iPod Touch: More Memory, Camera, Different Sizes?
Apple's 3G iPhone: Cheaper For You To Buy, Cheaper For Apple To Build
How The New iPhone Is Already Changing The Mobile Industry: Cheaper Smartphones