Apple has already sent press invites for its much-awaited Sept. 12 event where the Cupertino smartphone maker is expected to launch the fabled iPhone 5. Now, an analysis indicates that iPhone 5 sales can climb to as high as 10 million units in the first week of release.

The shipping date for the next-gen iPhone has not been confirmed; however, speculations suggest that Apple will release the smartphone nine days after it is announced on Sept. 12 in San Francisco. "We believe that if the 21st is the actual ship date, Apple could sell 6-10 million iPhone 5s in the final week of September barring supply issues," said Gene Munster, analyst Piper Jaffray.

Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S within the first three days of its release in October 2011. By contrast, the iPhone 4 sold a record 1.7 million units in the first three days of its release. With smartphone fans holding out for the iPhone 5 release, analysts are of the opinion that Apple could easily attain the 10 million sales figure.

In August this year, Samsung's flagship device, the Galaxy S3, ousted Apple's iPhone 4S to take become the best-selling smartphone in the U.S. "Later this month, we expect the iPhone 5 to reaffirm Apple's leadership position in markets recently penetrated by the iPhone 4S," said T. Michael Walkley, analyst at Canaccord Genuity.

Walkley added that "given the addition of LTE, we believe the iPhone 5 will be established as a technology leader, versus other available smartphones."

The current iteration of the iPhone sports a 3.5-inch multi-touch display with 960x640 pixel resolution. Rumors indicate that the iPhone 5 will sport a bigger 4-inch screen, which will still be smaller than the Galaxy S3's 4.8-inch screen.

iFans will have to wait and watch if the much-hyped iPhone 5 lives up to the expectations and if it gets a similar welcome to its predecessors.