Wall Street analyst, Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners is saying that he sees a big holiday quarter for both the iPhone 5 and iPad mini in his forecast. Cihra recently updated his projections for Apple’s December quarter in anticipation of the company’s quarterly earnings report, which is scheduled for January 23. He expects Apple to report sales of 50 million iPhones, a 35% year over year increase and 86% growth from the previous quarter.

When it comes to Apple’s newly expanded iPad lineup, Cihra believes the company sold 24 million touchscreen tablets in the quarter, representing 56% year-over-year growth and a 71% boost from the September quarter. To be more specific, he expects iPad growth to be driven by the iPad mini, which he believes accounted for 10 million units during the quarter. He also noted that supply of the iPad mini remains constrained with strong demand continuing after what he called a “booming launch.”

Although both the iPhone and iPad are expected to have strong performances, Cihra believes Mac sales will decrease 3% year over year, hitting 5 million units in the December quarter. According to him, this is going to be the case because of a limited early supply of the new iMac desktops.

The Cupertino California company’s record setting pace in the December quarter is expected to have some consequences going forward though. Cihra believes that the company’s rapid roll out of the iPhone 5 will lead to production cuts in the March quarter, where he has forecast sales of 39 million units. Overall, the price target for AAPL stock has been lowered to $750 from $775 but maintains its “overweight” rating, as Cihra notes the figures are “wholly conservative.”

Source: AppleInsider