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Any thoughts why the demand for iPhone 4 is so much greater than for 3S last year?

Manatee

Manatee

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 20, 2003
596
169
Washington DC
I'm wondering what's causing the huge increase in demand for the iPhone 4 over the 3S last year. When I ordered my 3S on day 1, it just took one try. This time I had to wait a day to get through. Now I'm reading about the huge demand for the new phone. Why? What's different since the launch of the 3S last year?

Is it because of the new features? Front camera? LED flash? Hi resolution screen? Gyroscope?

Is it the new OS version? Slight multi-tasking? App grouping in menus? Gaming network?

Is it the physical styling of the new phone?

Is it the iPad aura that's carrying over to the new phone?

Are there notable apps available now that weren't available last year?

Something else?

I really don't get it. I don't see much different since last year. I've bought all the iPhones early, and I've never seen demand like this.

Btw, is the same thing happening with other platforms, like Android? Maybe I just don't notice since I've committed to the iPhone, and don't pay close attention to the others.
 
IMO i believe it is not only for the features you listed but also there were a number of people - including me - that skipped upgrading to the 3GS because it was not much of an upgrade.
 
Manatee said:
I'm wondering what's causing the huge increase in demand for the iPhone 4 over the 3S last year. When I ordered my 3S on day 1, it just took one try. This time I had to wait a day to get through. Now I'm reading about the huge demand for the new phone. Why? What's different since the launch of the 3S last year?

Is it because of the new features? Front camera? LED flash? Hi resolution screen? Gyroscope?

Is it the new OS version? Slight multi-tasking? App grouping in menus? Gaming network?

Is it the physical styling of the new phone?

Is it the iPad aura that's carrying over to the new phone?

Are there notable apps available now that weren't available last year?

Something else?

I really don't get it. I don't see much different since last year. I've bought all the iPhones early, and I've never seen demand like this.

Btw, is the same thing happening with other platforms, like Android? Maybe I just don't notice since I've committed to the iPhone, and don't pay close attention to the others.
Click to expand...

Seriously? You just named a bunch of new features and don't see how it is different?

Especially considering that for people who do not have the 3GS, this is a huge update.
 
Because that effing facetime video makes you feel like a complete jackass when you see the soldier viewing his unborn child and the people communicating via sign language.


If you don't buy an iPhone 4, you're un american, and you hate deaf people. Buy one you jackass.



(I seriously felt like crap after watching the facetime video)
 
oldschooldude said:
IMO i believe it is not only for the features you listed but also there were a number of people - including me - that skipped upgrading to the 3GS because it was not much of an upgrade.
Click to expand...

That is what I did. I could not justify spending $300 on a new phone that was basically just faster and had a better camera (and not even that much better for that much money). I told myself that the next iPhone would be better.
 
Well, I am sure a lot of people didn't upgrade to the 3Gs that had the 3G. But now people that have the 3G are eligible for upgrades plus most people that bought a 3Gs.

Thats a lot of people suddenly eligible for an upgrade.

I also seem to remember last year when you announced the 3Gs, initially not everyone was eligible and they ended up extending it to people that would be through September because so many people complained. I can't remember if that was after the pre-order or before though.
 
For me, it was the 720p HD video. I was going to buy a Flip HD, now I don't have to. I love my 3GS but the video is abysmal...now I have handy access to quality video whenever and wherever I am, great with small kids!
 
oldschooldude said:
IMO i believe it is not only for the features you listed but also there were a number of people - including me - that skipped upgrading to the 3GS because it was not much of an upgrade.
Click to expand...

This. 3GS vs 3G was a decimal level upgrade. The 4 is a whole new platform.
 
oldschooldude said:
IMO i believe it is not only for the features you listed but also there were a number of people - including me - that skipped upgrading to the 3GS because it was not much of an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Plus they let people upgrade 6 months early. I'm sure it wouldn't have been as crazy yesterday if this wasn't the case.
 
Um, because it is totally different. New design, improved, great camera, HD video. Pretty much everything.
 
lol. Kids these days. You answered your own question


fuzion said:
Because that effing facetime video makes you feel like a complete jackass when you see the soldier viewing his unborn child and the people communicating via sign language.


If you don't buy an iPhone 4, you're un american, and you hate deaf people. Buy one you jackass.



(I seriously felt like crap after watching the facetime video)
Click to expand...

+1

I was glad Apple went that approach. REAL LIFE situations. No disconnected hand or the same people ("liz") that have been in apple promos for years in front of a green screen with added backgrounds via chroma key.
 
We're coming out of a recession. Lots of people have been suppressing their shopping for a couple years now; it's hard not to do that when the media hammer down all those scare headlines every night about double dip recessions, great depressions, the end of the world as we knew it and admonitions to hoard your cash or stack gold to the ceilings... blah blah blah. In the fine print somewhere are the other side of the news, the fact that manufacturing has expanded, credit card defaults are on the decline, hiring is starting to pick up.

So along comes some press about a new gizmo, and not just any gizmo but a new Apple iPhone, and WHAM, the dams all burst at once and everyone wants the thing and takes their credit card off ice.

Probably there will be spinoff into the general economy from this caper; once people get that card back in their wallets, they'll be eyeballing the rest of a shopping list grown long the past year or two.
 
dragon13 said:
Agreed. Plus they let people upgrade 6 months early. I'm sure it wouldn't have been as crazy yesterday if this wasn't the case.
Click to expand...

And let's not forget that there are a lot of 3Gers out there who were in the middle of their contracts last summer, who aren't now...

I wouldn't have upgraded to the iPhone 4 had it come out last year. But now that I'm clear of the contract commitment...

:apple::apple:
 
8237f1.png


I believe we are entering 'early majority.'
 
Perhaps something to do with owners of rinky-dink "feature phones" trading up to smartphones in general:

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/smartphones-to-overtake-feature-phones-in-u-s-by-2011/

The iPhone, Blackberry, Droid and smartphones in general dominate the buzz in the mobile market, but only 21% of American wireless subscribers are using a smartphone as of the fourth quarter 2009 compared to 19% in Q3 2009 and 14% at the end of 2008. We are just at the beginning of a new wireless era where smartphones will become the standard device consumers will use to connect to friends, the internet and the world at large. The share of smartphones as a proportion of overall device sales has increased to 29% for phone purchasers in the last six months and 45% of respondents to a Nielsen survey indicated that their next device will be a smartphone. If we combine these intentional data points with falling prices and increasing capabilities of these devices along with a explosion of applications for devices, we are seeing the beginning of a groundswell. This increase will be so rapid, that by the end of 2011, Nielsen expects more smartphones in the U.S. market than feature phones.
Click to expand...

So it's only going to get worse.:eek: iPhone day 2011 will be a bloodbath.
 
I think a lot of people have followed the iPhone progression:

Bought original iPhone at high price
Then they qualified for cheap 3G pricing
Then the 3GS came but those people who had 3G couldn't get it subsidized and it didn't have that many new features.

Now people can upgrade for "cheap" to the 4 which offers much more reason to upgrade than the 3GS did
 
Tara Luvs Apple said:
That is what I did. I could not justify spending $300 on a new phone that was basically just faster and had a better camera (and not even that much better for that much money). I told myself that the next iPhone would be better.
Click to expand...


Well I paid $300 for the 32GB 3GS and selling it for $399. I made money and still have enough to cover the iPhone 4.

3GS was amazing and I loved having it way more than my 3G. Upgrading for free (since my original iPhone) FOR THE WIN!
 
I've known this for a few years now. Flip phones, sliders and candy bar phones are going to be gone. the sidekicks will remain because kids like to text and giving them an iPhone will open the door for them to loose it, break it, or have it stolen. (they can do it to the sidekick, but thats not much of a problem)


but smartphones will become main stream and become cheap soon. (get a decent smart phone for $59 on an prepaid plan)
 
Here's a thought.
With all the problems in ordering I seem to have ordered 2 from at&t online yesterday.
In a panic yesterday afternoon I "reserved" one at the nearby apple store.

At the end of the day I had 3 possible phones when all I want is one.

This morning my inadverdant reorder was cancelled by at&t. I'm holding on to my "reservation" for a while....

How many people accidently or on purpose have 2, 3 or more phones on hold? When all they want is 1.
How many of the 600,000 phones sold yesterday fall into this catagory?

Just a thought.
 
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