Why Apple's Poised to Make History

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fear not Apple (AAPL) fans. If you thought the third-quarter earnings miss was a sign of things to come, you may want to reconsider that thought.

According to the "Apple Monitor" compiled by Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, the consumer tech giant had its best July on record, with Apple's supply chain enjoying record sales. The Cupertino, Calif.-based firm enjoyed the strongest month-over-month sales growth of any July in the past eight years of the Apple Monitor. White said that July sales rose 14% month-over-month.

"This July was well above the 7% growth experienced last July, supporting our view of an earlier launch of the iPhone 5 versus the iPhone 4S last October," White wrote in his report. "We indicated in June that we felt that the iPhone 5 would be launched in September, along with the 'iPad Mini'." He rates Apple shares "buy" with a $1,111 price target.

White uses the Apple Monitor to augment his own checks and research, especially when it comes to new product launches and changes in inventory. He thinks that 50%-60% of the sales in the Apple Monitor come directly from Apple.

Apple's reportedly going to release the iPhone 5 and perhaps the iPad Mini in September as well.

What We Know About the iPhone 5

In the third-quarter, Apple blamed its sales shortfall not only on a weakening economy, but also speculation surrounding new products. Speaking during the earnings conference call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer cited several reasons for the revenue and earnings miss, including economic weakness in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. He also said consumer speculation about new products was delaying some purchasing decisions and that a delay with Intel's (INTC) Ivy Bridge chips hurt Mac sales in April and May.

That may not be all for Apple. Recently released sales figures from Taiwan show that the iPhone 5 isn't at peak production yet, according to a report on online news portal BrightWire. Citing Chinese Web site Yicai.com, the report points to data from Apple suppliers Genius Electronic Optical and Largan Precision which saw July revenues rise 19.7% month-over-month and 21%, respectively.

Apple generally releases a product when it has an inventory of 10 million units, and right now, Apple's manufacturers are thought to be producing around 50,000-80,000 units per day.

An Apple spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Shares of Apple edged higher in early Thursday trading, up 0.64% to $621.19.

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--Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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