Off the scale iPhone 5S and iPad Air demand drives 80m Apple sales

Spurred on by a strong holiday season dominated by growing iPhone 5S and iPad Air demand, Apple is expected to announce iDevice sales in excess of 80 million units this month.

As Cupertino prepares to reveal its official earnings on January 27, AppleInsider claims the tech giant enjoyed a healthy December, driven by the company's flagship releases during 2013.

According to a sales survey conducted by Canaccord Genuity, analyst T. Michael Walkley reports that Apple shifted a mega 54 million iPhones last month along with 24.8 million iPads, representing a 13% and 8% increase year over year respectively.

In what is seen as great news for Apple, the figures don't include the iOS powered iPod touch, with the company allegedly enjoying a sales mix of roughly 2:1 between the top of the range iPhone 5S and the lower-end iPhone 5C.

"For the currently in progress March quarter, Walkley sees iPhone sales easing seasonally to 42.1 million — a number he said could prove conservative if Apple's launch on China Mobile, the world's largest carrier, proves to be a significant success," the Apple focused website reports.

"For calendar 2014, the analyst projects that Apple will sell a total of 180.4 million units.

"As a result, he expects high-end smartphone sales in 2014 will continue to be dictated by ecosystem and brand rather than hardware.

"Apple and Samsung, which control the lion's share of premium smartphone sales, are predicted to remain on top, while competing handset makers fight over the scraps.