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Apple Confident in All-Time Record iPhone Sales for Holiday Quarter

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Apr 12, 2001
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While Apple's iPhone sales for the fourth fiscal quarter fell short of expectations at 17.07 million units, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted during the company's conference call that it expects to hit all-time record iPhone sales in the current quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4S.

iphone_4s_siri.jpg



Cook noted that iPhone sales declined somewhat sequentially as rumors regarding a new model circulated. iPhone sales dropped by 2.4 million sequentially on a sell-through basis, which was actually less than the company had anticipated. Unsurprisingly, the reduction was most significant in the second half of the quarter as speculation surrounding the iPhone 4S "hit extreme highs". That pent-up demand led to a strong launch for the iPhone 4S, with Apple selling over four million units in the opening weekend.

iPhone rumors had been at a fever pitch for many months as Apple missed its usual June introduction of new hardware. Compounding the effect were persistent rumors of a dramatically redesigned "iPhone 5" offering a larger but thinner design than the current iPhone. Whether those iPhone 5 design rumors were incorrect or based on a design still in the works for a future model remains unknown, but the iPhone 5 was ultimately not released during this product cycle as Apple elected to remain with the iPhone 4 design as it launched the iPhone 4S.

Cook also expressed confidence in Apple's rollout plans for the iPhone 4S, with the device already available in seven countries and an additional 22 countries coming online by the end of this month. Record iPhone sales for the current quarter would come in above the 20.34 million units set in the third fiscal quarter (second calendar quarter) of this year. Apple has already issued strong guidance of $37 billion in total revenue for the current quarter, and with the iPhone making up the largest chunk of Apple's revenue, the company is clearly expecting strong sales at least through the end of the year.

Article Link: Apple Blames Rumors for iPhone Sales Drop, Confident in Record Sales for Holiday Quarter
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/18/apple-confident-in-all-time-record-iphone-sales-for-holiday-quarter/
deputy_doofy

deputy_doofy

macrumors 65816
Sep 11, 2002
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Really? 17 million is a disappointment? Does anyone stop to think that this disappointing number was due to the pent up demand for the latest iPhone? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but investors are f####ng stupid.
 
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lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
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deputy_doofy said:
Really? 17 million is a disappointment? Does anyone stop to think that this disappointing number was due to the pent up demand for the latest iPhone? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but investors are f####ng stupid.
Click to expand...

To keep things in perspective - Samsung did sell more smart phones than Apple in this quarter.
 
C

cvaldes

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Dec 14, 2006
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To keep things in perspective - Apple's gross margins on its handset sales are a lot higher than those of Samsung's. And I mean a lot higher.

Apple eats up most of the industry's profits in all the hardware categories they compete in (PCs, tablets, MP3 players, smartphones). If I recall correctly, Apple has about two-thirds of the smartphone industry's profits.
 
marksman

marksman

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Top three smartphones of 2011: 4, 4s, 3GS
 
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applefan289

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Aug 20, 2010
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lilo777 said:
To keep things in perspective - Samsung did sell more smart phones than Apple in this quarter.
Click to expand...

I still can't understand why, for a similar monthly fee, people don't go for the iPhone. It's obviously more quality. I know that is an opinion, but it is a fact in a way. I mean, just holding the iPhone feels great. :D
 
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iMikeT

macrumors 68020
Jul 8, 2006
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Considering that 4 million iPhone 4S's were sold in the first 3 days alone along with the holidays coming, I would be confident too if I were Apple.
 
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Frankied22

Frankied22

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Nov 24, 2010
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Maybe if they didn't keep releases top secret until the day of release there wouldn't be so many absurd rumors gaining ground leading up to the launch, raising everyone's expectations to unrealistic heights. Also, those unrealistic rumors wouldn't leak into the mainstream news and gain even more ground. It's just a thought...
 
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iMikeT

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Jul 8, 2006
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deputy_doofy said:
Really? 17 million is a disappointment? Does anyone stop to think that this disappointing number was due to the pent up demand for the latest iPhone? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but investors are f####ng stupid.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't blame investors, I would blame bonehead analysts.


MultiMediaWill said:
Apple blames rumors... I blame lack of redesign.
Click to expand...


If you're looking for a huge redesign in a product every time a new revision, even a minor one is released, it tells me that you must be the kind of person who gets easily distracted by shiny objects.

I dare you to try to come up with a new design for a product every time a new revision is released.

By the way, 4 million iPhone 4S's were sold in its first 3 days of sale, beating previous iPhone releases. It has the same design that the original iPhone 4 has.
 
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addicted44

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2005
533
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iMikeT said:
I wouldn't blame investors, I would blame bonehead analysts.
Click to expand...

The problem for Apple was clearly the delay.

1) Analysts were modelling sales based on an increase from the yoy quarter, however, last year, this was the first quarter after launch of a new iPhone, while this year, it was the last quarter before the launch of the new iPhone.
2) Apple had established a clear pattern of releasing a new iPhone in the Sep quarter. As a result, even those who did not follow rumor sites, were expecting the iPhone in the last quarter, and delaying purchases.
 
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Astro7x

macrumors regular
Mar 3, 2010
168
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applefan289 said:
Having 128 models is truly ridiculous. It shows that they're just trying to flood the market so they can take over more by numbers. It's almost cheating.
Click to expand...

One of the things that Apple does right is they have very few models, and when they release a new product they make you feel like your old model is out of date. I can tell you the difference between every single iPhone model out there, because there has only been 5 of them.

Meanwhile I couldn't tell you the difference between the Galaxy S and the Infuse, or the Epic. And when they come out with a the Galaxy Ultimate or whatever, I don't feel like I need to upgrade because it only looks different and it feels like a cosmetic upgrade rather than a performance upgrade.
 
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slapppy

macrumors 65816
Mar 20, 2008
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lilo777 said:
To keep things in perspective - Samsung did sell more smart phones than Apple in this quarter.
Click to expand...

Hmmm thats a good point. Samsung is starting to look like they are pulling ahead of Apple. Slavishly copying Apple, along with Android is paying off for them.
 
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