Siri helps Apple sell 30 million iPhones in Q4, shares could hit $510 (analyst)

Analysts believe Apple is on target to sell 30 million smartphones by the end of the December quarter, beating previous estimates of 28 million phones. Sales of the highly-anticipated iPhone 4S have no-doubt been fueled by Siri, the voice-powered virtual assistant, which appeared in mid-October on the new Apple smartphone.

UBS analyst Maynard Um sees strong sales of Apple’s mobile devices pushing the company’s share value above $510 per share during the next 12 months, with a strong buy rating, according to Apple Insider.

The iPhone wasn’t Apple’s only cash cow — more than 12 million iPads were also sold this quarter. Um said it was “achievable” for Apple to sell 13 million iPads in the quarter, exceeding his original estimates of up to 12 million.

Apple smartphones account for 10 percent of all phones in the U.S., and iOS devices make up 28.1 percent of the smartphone market. Android commands 46.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, fragmented across devices from manufacturers such as Samsung, Motorola and HTC.

We recently reported that anticipation for the iPhone 4S — which many people thought would be the iPhone 5 — likely resulted in a temporary global slowdown in the growth of smartphone sales during Q3. We also reported today that the iPhone 4S dominated online smartphone buzz for the year.

There there seems to be no end in sight for the good, revenue-filled times at Apple. The company today opened its largest retail store in New York’s Grand Central Station, welcoming swarms of eager holiday shoppers and die-hard fans. This week Apple also posted two job openings for Siri engineers to help design the future of the voice assistant, and, we imagine, continue to fuel record profitability.