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Analyst Says Perhaps Millions of iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Still in Transit, Not Included in Announced Sales
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Note that Apple didn't say that 5 million people had received an iPhone. They said that they had sold 5 million.
When Apple reports sales, they include shipments to carriers and retail outlets. (The same as Samsung and other companies do.) That can include millions of devices that aren't even on their shelves yet, much less sold to an end user.
Usually shipments = sales, and everyone is happy. Sometimes they don't. Samsung got famously nailed for its first tablet shipments that didn't turn into end user sales. (This hasn't happened with their phones, though.)
Apple has also gotten caught in the exact same trap. As recently as the first quarter of this year, they reported sales of 2.6 million more iPhones than actually ended up in end user hands during that quarter. In other words, they sat on store shelves and didn't sell through until the following quarter.
right
We at Piper Jaffray are now making excuses as to why sales weren't in the 8-10 million range... It didn't have anything to do with the fact that we jumped the gun on issuing statements once we heard about the 2 million pre-order figure, really, and that's our story and we're sticking to it.
We at Piper Jaffray are now making excuses as to why sales weren't in the 8-10 million range... It didn't have anything to do with the fact that we jumped the gun on issuing statements once we heard about the 2 million pre-order figure, really, and that's our story and we're sticking to it.
A m a z i n g
Does the figures including orders still in transit include orders that haven't benn passed yet ?
That would make many more iPhones !
And do they include orders that haven't been thought of yet ? Again a few more !
It could even not include orders cancellation that haven't been cancelled yet !
Everything is so great about i5 !
Does the figures including orders still in transit include orders that haven't benn passed yet ?
That would make many more iPhones !
And do they include orders that haven't been thought of yet ? Again a few more !
It could even not include orders cancellation that haven't been cancelled yet !
Everything is so great about i5 !
I just think about all those flights needed to carry iPhones and I got headache.
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You're just desperate for it to be bad then?
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You're just desperate for it to be bad then?
Agreed, this sounds like some really pathetic logic on the Munster's part, in my opinion he hasn't done anything worth while since that TV show in the sixties, but I digress.
Look, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Did Apple want to announce 8 million iPhones sold this weekend, or were they content with 5 million? All they want to do is exceed last year's number, and leave room for the 5S to exceed that next year. A million more sales than the 4S was the plan, just as 6 million sales of next year's 5S is the plan.
Simple enough, but I guess these dumbass analysts don't really understand business.
Apple cannot "decide" what they want to announce; their announcements are used by the markets, i.e. it would be quite likely, given that they announced 5 million that is exactly what happened. Anything else would be misleading to the markets, up or down.
But... But... iPhone 5 was supposed to fail and flop?!?! Galaxy S 3 is better no?
Can't wait to see the Apple stock re-bound off this!
FYI: I'm ENTIRELY joking around.
Just because the Galaxy SIII is probably a better phone technologically does not mean it would outsell the iPhone. Apple has loyalty, branding and simplicity behind it (ie: Piece of Mind). No other company has established that in the marketplace.
The only people who thinks that people think the iPhone was going to fail this time around were the people who are blind to criticism of Apple. Everyone else knew it was going to sell well and no one said otherwise. People like me just WISHED it was otherwise so Apple would be forced release in my view an actually innovative, not iterative, phone. Big, big difference. Unless you're a shareholder, you actually want the phone to sell less, so demand goes down, which means a cheaper price and to get demand back up, you have to have a better good to supply in general. However, if you're a fan of a company instead of a product, or a shareholder, you want people to give you the best bang for your money.
So who were these people saying the iPhone would fail? I have said it should fail-and I bought one anyway-but I never said it would fail. (I'm not convinced that its as strong as people think, either, but I'd hardly consider selling 80 million units over its lifespan anything near a failure...which I definitely see happening)...
So Analyst state the obvious and then predict something most of us have already realized... I need to find a job being an Analyst. 3rd most cozy job behind Weather Forecaster and daytime TV smut show host.
I think the new design presented some production challenges. That's why I'm waiting a month or so to order one. By then I hope to get a unit without any WiFi or other issues.
Ordering about two hours after the pre-order launch, I was first given a Sept 28 estimated delivery date. The next day it was moved back a week into October. It got shipped yesterday and my credit card was finally charged. Expected delivery is back to 9/28.
I suspect there are far more than 1-2 million phones whose owners, like me, missed that first hour of availablity and have phones not counted in that first weekend sales.
I suspect there are far more than 1-2 million phones whose owners, like me, missed that first hour of availablity and have phones not counted in that first weekend sales.
True (if not for a while), but once people find out that the wp8 is a viable option, they would need to keep pace in order to not lose market share.
Well Ive did say it was the most ambitious and challenging manufacturing process they've done to date. So getting 5 million out the door in three days is quite impressive. It blows my mind that Wall Street can think 5 million of anything in three days is a failure.
Well every store I visited this weekend was sold out. That included Apple, AT&T and Verizon stores. The one Verizon store I visited said they sold out by 9AM on Friday and wouldn't have new stock until mid-October. Somehow I doubt this 5 million includes sales to AT&T, Verizon etc. that haven't made it to the store yet. Plus what they told me at Verizon was if I order the phone and the the Apple store gets some in stock I could cancel my order so long as still in the "processing" stage. I'm assuming Apple doesn't count those as sales because the buyer had the right to cancel the sale. So I would assume they don't count sales until the device ships (either to an individual or retail outlet).
If anything I think the 5 million could have been higher - if they had the ability to build 1-2 million more I think they would have sold them.
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How so?
Fastest processor: iPhone
Best screen: iPhone
Best camera: iPhone
Best build materials: iPhone
NFC: Samsung
http://www.displaymate.com/Smartphone_ShootOut_2.htm:
"The Color Gamut of the Galaxy S III is significantly larger than the Standard Color Gamut so it produces over saturated colors that can appear comic book like and gaudy in some instances. Photos appear with way too much color. Its similar to turning the Color Control way up on your HDTV. If the images have relatively low color saturation to begin with then they look more vibrant but not objectionable. However, if the images have vibrant colors to begin with, like a fire engine, then the images can be visually painful to look at. When compared side-by-side to the accurately calibrated iPhone 5 and new iPad, the Galaxy S III looked gaudy."
"Apple has again taken the lead in methodical refinements and factory calibration that are necessary to produce accurate very high picture quality. Based on our extensive Lab measurements the iPhone 5 has a true state-of-the-art accurate display its not perfect and there is plenty of room for improvements (and competitors) but it is the best Smartphone display we have seen to date based on extensive Lab measurements and viewing tests."
Fastest processor: Galaxy SIII, if you switch to Jelly Bean, sorry, read the new bench marks. ICS had issues, and they're improved.
Best screen: Highly subjective. I prefer looking at OLEDs and pixel density is roughly the same, but the SIII has a longer viewing distance, which makes sense that you'd hold it further away. I think most people do prefer looking at the SIII screen, but it also suffers from burn-in, and I'm not sure they'd want to carry around a bigger screen.
Best Camera: Fine. iPhone has a better rear camera. The front facing? Not so much. Samsung's is clearly better there. But even the rear camera is debatable-you'd find many postings on it. The S III is far superior for close ups, but when not close, the colors get oversaturated and the iPhone is better. At mid range, its tough to tell the difference.
Best build materials: Plastic feels cheap. But they can put up with a lot of damage. The iPhone certainly feels better, but that doesn't mean its higher quality beyond a luxurious feel.
The iPhone is a good phone. But you're sort of...lying...about the S III. Again, since the release of Jelly Bean it turns out the benchmarks have dramatically improved. Beyond outscoring the A6 on the new OS, it also...hasn't run iOS so there really isn't a good test.
The problem with the S III? You might not like the bigger screen (I do), you might not like Android (I don't), and you might not like plastic (I do). Technologically, I feel the hardware is still superior. But software makes a big difference, and I don't like Google as a company.
I would also add, aren't you supposed to be defending the user experience? Why should an Apple fanboy care if the S III may have faster hardware, unless the concern is the software experience is starting to flicker away and that Google has caught up (As someone who's used a Nexus on Jelly Bean recently, I'd say that for most people, Samsung has definitely caught up and that the Nexus is far and away better than the iPhone 4S, which wasn't too hard to begin with given that it was merely a spec bump). After all, isn't that the justification for the A5 in the iPhone only having 512MB RAM?
The problem with your assertion is that in all of the tests that we've seen come in so far, the SIII has gotten beaten by the iPhone 5.... whether it's real or synthetic web/java benchmarks, color screen accuracy, etc. I think that the SIII is a good phone, for people with giant hands, but I like my iPhone thanks.
If someone really needs NFC and/or loves Android and/or hates Apple, then the SIII is certainly the second best smart phone currently available... again, requirement for Andre The Giant hands notwithstanding.
Also, your comment that plastic holds up to abuse is not panning out since in drop test comparison the SIII wound up with a cracked casing and shattered screen where-as the iPhone 5 simply had some nicks/dings in the casing but was otherwise fine.
It's not about fanboism. It's about reality.
Not from what I've seen on SIII running Jelly Bean...I've seen that yes, the A6 beats it on iOS 6 v. ICS, but ICS and JB are very different beasts. ICS bogs down the processors. And I'd add, put an SIII on iOS and that's how you can tell for sure. Or an iPhone 5 on JB.
Source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/09/17/iphone-5-benchmark-tests-galaxy-s-iii-nexus-7/ Read carefully. The SIII is faster on JB.
And I have huge hands so I don't care about size, but a friend of mine with a Galaxy Nexus-still much bigger than an iPhone 5-has small hands. Guess what? He has no problems either. It turns out, the bigger screen really isn't that much of an impediment, especially compared to a tablet, and unless you complain about the iPad, I don't see much of a leg to stand on with this argument aside from portability.
I also just watched Square Trade's drop tests. The only test I'll give the iPhone a win on is the water test, and it doesn't show the after effects two weeks later. They dropped the SIII on its screen and the iPhone 5 on its side. Of course, the SIII would break sooner in this test. When the 20 ounce beer, the edge of the bottle hit the phone on an angle, whereas the iPhone didn't have the same pressure.
Better testing, please-its the same glass, so it doesn't make sense...they're equal in this regard I thought?
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Yeah because, you know, portability isn't much of a concern with a PHONE, right?
Seriously man, come off of it.
I would argue that not only is portability a major factor in a phone purchase decision but so is one hand operation...
My director, who tried an SIII for a week before running like a jackrabbit back to an iPhone reported that not only was the battery life on the SIII a major problem for him, but that holding it up to his head to take a call, when he had no headset or handsfree device available was like ironing his head with a clothes iron due to the size of the thing.
Anyway, this is off the rails insofar as the thread topic so now I depart, have fun with your droid phone.
Only for their retail outlets. They have no way of knowing end user sales for other retail partners. A phone sold to Best buy or AT&T or Rogers is a phone sold.
Apple is no different from others in this regard, they have no special control that allows them to know exact end-user sales outside of the channels they control.
If it was all about sheer portability, then my wife's tiny old flip phone must be the best possible design
What a lot of people have found, is that light weight and curves for the hand and pockets, is far more important than size when it comes to portability and usability.
The iPhone wasn't designed very well for one handed operation, especially the part with a multi-touch (hint: two hands) design focus.
- The Back button is as far away from the normal thumb position as possible. Other phones have a Back button under the thumb.
- Small screen means it's often harder to type accurately. The lack of native Swype support also impacts one-handed capability.
- Sure, it has double-tap to zoom if you only have one hand, but there's no single-handed way to unzoom. Other phones use optional +/- onscreen buttons for that.
One-handed usage is just not a primary iPhone design factor.
Fact is, they're sold out everywhere. Seems more a supply chain issue than a problem of low demand.