the 64gb iphone 5 is $849. For a phone, that's luxury. You're quoting sub.price on the lowest model. It's like buying a bmw that cost $90k for $20k but you have to keep it for 5 years with the words bmw plastered on your forehead till your contract runs out.
"Preparing for Shipment!" 64gb, black, AT&T. Ordered through Apple Store app at 12:05 am, confirmation timestamped at 12:07. What are the odds I'll recieve it early like I did with the iP4 (that one arrived on a Wednesday).
So much for it being 'boring'.
Correct. I don't
When was the last time Sam(e)sung was blown away? Hmm??
Really? Saying that without knowing my background at all? I happen to have been in large corporate marketing for more years than you've probably been alive, sailor.
Based on past records, don't you think Apple would've anticipated a blow out and increased their supply this time around? I would think so
OK, how else do you explain that they sold out their entire supply in 1 hour?
There are only 3 options here:
1) They totally underestimated the demand and didn't build enough phones
2) Their supply chain had such severe issues that they couldn't build enough to meet demand
3) They intentionally created this "shortage" so that buyers would be "blown away" by the product
Remember the promise Apple made with the rMBP about how you could order it and it would ship TODAY? That lasted all of an hour, too.
See a pattern here?
The statement that Apple was "blown away" indicates that option 1) is reality. Sorry, but I don't believe Apple Marketing is that incompetent. I don't think they're holding supply back, but I could be convinced that they intentionally didn't build enough phones so that this type of supply frenzy would be created.
I vote for option 3).
"Manufactured shortages in order to drive demand" is a concept that makes no logical sense in almost any circumstance, and especially when a product already has an unfathomable level of demand associated with it.
Apple's growing level of success over the past 5 year period is simply unprecedented. There is not another story in the history of American business that can be compared to the rise, fall, and rebirth of Apple.
There has never been as good a selling consumer electronics product as the iPhone, period.
And it is certainly true that Apple's marketing might creates a level of demand for new product releases that is unlike that of any other product on the market.
Another factor is that the iPhone 5 really and truly in my opinion represents, on all levels, as close as we've seen yet to a "perfect" iteration of the product:
The industrial design and combination of glass and the aluminum rear, coupled with the larger screen, yet thinner and lighter form-factor, are really, well, just perfect in my opinion. And many other people's. Not everyone's. But most people's. It seems like all external issues have been fixed.
It finally has LTE, but with no sacrifice of battery life.
The processor and GPU double its performance capability -- the thing seems to be capable of graphical tasks that almost match Xbox 360 and PS3 levels, it's insane.
I can't, honestly, think of anything I'd improve about the iPhone 5. I can't really say this about any other version of the iPhone, other than the original, as the firs tone was so paradigm-altering, we had nothing to compare it to, and it forged entirely new ground.
I simply don't think it would have been logistically possible for enough manufacturing lines to be put in ahead of demand in order to avoid this kind of situation, given that I think the iPhone 5 is noticeably superior an iteration of the product than we've yet seen. The damn thing is ICONIC. It takes everything that was cool about the 4 and 4S, and eliminates all of those things like the glass rear that served no purpose.
The reflective chamfered edge and the matte aluminum rear case are, for lack of a better word, beautiful. It is an insanely gorgeous device. For me, it inspired lust the moment I saw the marketing video Apple prepared. I think it might as well be called "the iPhone 2" because it represents the second plateau of iPhone development. Every element seems perfected at this point, based on what the current state of technology allows for. Apple has learned from every single previous version, and made every correct decision about the iPhone 5, from what I can tell so far.
Yeah. I don't think it EVER would have been possible to avoid this situation. There are only so many factories a corporation and its partners can realistically build.
Let's break this down:
To the fan boys:
Of COURSE Apple is going to say the sales are spectacular. There is a very real chance Apple intentionally withholds supply to create this aura of success and "hysteria" about their new flagship product. They need the news coverage of lines wrapped around the block, not Fedex pulling up to homes with pre-orders.
To the haters:
Despite the rather transparent marketing (which frankly is intelligent, competent marketing in Apple's position.. they're damn good at it) you honestly think this isn't one of THE biggest tech releases in history? Laugh, mock, whatever.. when the real data comes out this product will most likely destroy everything.... ever. Maybe not, but I wouldn't bet against it.
I'm proud of Apple, I'm proud of the customers and what we will be able to accomplish together. I cant wait as I will be 'camping' out in front of my Apple Store come Thursday the 20th. Can't come soon enough.
You are too concentrated on the phone looks rather than function. You must be an ideal customer for Apple. It's actually quite easy to see a few things that the phone is lacking. NFC is one such obvious thing. Not being able to use LTE data simultaneously with voice is a major let down. Screen resolution is decent but still lower than that of the competitors. Wireless charging would also be nice as would be the use of a standard connector (micro USB/MHL).
There isn't a single store I've seen that supports NFC in my area. I had it on my gs3 and never even noticed or knew how to use it. Wireless charging is stupid. I still have to have a big ugly thing plugged in the charge might as well use the cable i use to sync my music and backup to charge it....
When was the last time Sam(e)sung was blown away? Hmm??
Try googling "NFC tags". There is more to NFC than retail.
Not 6 years in a row. Please.
I don't think the phrase "blown away" necessarily has all of the connotations you guys are reading into it. Let me offer an example.
Have you ever had sex? Good sex, I mean. If you have, you know it's a pretty swell thing. Admittedly, it has been a bit longer for me since last time given my perpetual state of singleness, but it's pretty easy for me to think back to some great times.
If I met an awesome lady sometime, and ended up "doing the nasty" and it was a great time, I can imagine lying in bed afterward and having a great big grin on my face. It's not that it would have been entirely new territory, but when something is great, and you do it again, after it has been a while, there is a certain level of satisfaction that takes place.
Could I use the phrase "blown away" (read into it as much of a pun as you care to) to describe how I'd be feeling, lying in bed afterward? I think that would be a fair description. Trust me, right now, if I had an evening of fantastic sex with a great lady, I would most definitely be blown away afterword, despite the fact that I'm not a virgin.
Could I have predicted that I would enjoy that night of romping? Yeah, probably. What if it was even a bit better than I had expected? For an already wonderful thing, after a period of absence, to even go a bit passed expectations? Would it be possible for me to be blown away, afterward?
Now, this is me talking about my boring ol' sex life. Imagine that if instead of getting laid, we were talking about selling more of a consumer electronics product in a one hour period than ANY OTHER CONSUMER ELECTRONICS DEVICE IN HISTORY, AND IN THE PROCESS, MAKING MORE MONEY THAN GOD.
Would it be fair to describe your reaction to be one of being "blown away?"
I think so.