Apple expected to launch larger version of hit handset next year

Apple's iPhone X may have only been on sale for a few days, but Apple's plans for its successor are already being analysed.

Experts believe the tech giant will release two iPhones next year - one an updated X, and one an 'XL' with the same design, but a larger screen, according to the Daily Mail.

KGI Securities’ analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple will launch not one but two iPhones with OLED displays and stainless steel cases. 

The new report also predicts Apple will make changes to the stainless steel metal frame to improve data transmission quality.

Apple’s current flagship iPhone lineup includes three models with only one OLED option: the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus with LCD screens, and the 5.8-inch iPhone X with OLED. 

The second model referenced in KGI’s report may be a larger ‘Plus’ version of the next iPhone X, 9to5Mac believes. 

Apple shares rose to a record high on Friday as more analysts set a trillion-dollar valuation on the company, following a blowout fourth quarter and an upbeat forecast that quashed investor concerns around the iPhone X.

The stock rose as much as 3.7 percent to $174.26, briefly breaching $900 billion in market value, amid declines in the broader market. 

The gains added nearly $32 billion to the company's market capitalization.

The Cupertino, California-based company also forecast a strong holiday quarter ahead, which will include the iPhone X that started selling on November 3.

“We see iPhone X unlocking pent-up iPhone upgrades, especially in China, driving more than 20 percent iPhone unit growth and a revenue and earnings beat in 2018,' analyst Katy Huberty on Morgan Stanley said.

The glass-and-steel $999 phone appeared to have brought back the frenzy associated with iPhone launches - long lines formed outside Apple stores across the world as fans flocked to buy the new phone.

The company will make 30 million iPhone X units during the current quarter, Nomura Instinet analysts estimated, allaying production worries related to the phone.

IPhone X's launch follows weeks of concerns among analysts about the production of the phone, which for the first time includes new facial identification software to replace the fingerprint used on previous phones.