Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I was not expecting this. Most people who got the iPhone 6 last year are tied into a two year contract. The fact you can still order/reserve an iPhone and still get it on launch day has nothing to do with it, Apple simply produced a LOT more units this year.

Why does this surprise you? There is a HUGE percentage of people who never upgraded to the 6 due to contract obligations.
 
I was not expecting this. Most people who got the iPhone 6 last year are tied into a two year contract. The fact you can still order/reserve an iPhone and still get it on launch day has nothing to do with it, Apple simply produced a LOT more units this year.
Yes but the people who got the 5S the year earlier are off contract and last year there was a lot more deals about that enable people to upgrade early. A lot of Android users are getting fed up of Android and Samsung customers haven't reacted that well to their new phone. This on top of the easier way to transfer content from an Android phone to iOS should mean a lot of Android users will be switching this year as well.
 
Huh? The weekend ended already, it either beat last year's numbers or it didn't. What on earth is "on pace"?!

I assume they have to get numbers from all of the retailers in all of the countries that allowed pre-orders. IE, carrier partners, retail stores like Best Buy, etc. Takes time for all of the reporting to come in from the four winds.
 
It's very telling that they choose not to report the first 24 hours of sales, which they have in the past. "On pace" to top 10 million for the weekend, to me, is code for: We didn't beat the 24 hour record, so we're scrambling to get the total above 10 million.

I'm not surprised. Beating numbers like 4 million and 10 million are a tall order.
 
It's very telling that they choose not to report the first 24 hours of sales, which they have in the past. "On pace" to top 10 million for the weekend, to me, is code for: We didn't beat the 24 hour record, so we're scrambling to get the total above 10 million.

I'm not surprised. Beating numbers like 4 million and 10 million are a tall order.

How do you scramble to get the total above 10 million? People either buy it or they don't. They clearly are buying it.
 
Huh? The weekend ended already, it either beat last year's numbers or it didn't. What on earth is "on pace"?!

Spin.

Read between the lines here guys. The statement says they didn't sell as many phones as last year, yet some comments on this thread are congratulating them as if they have!?

What they are doing is saying we didn't do as well as last year but, we will, to save the stock price.

Now that by no means suggests its a failure. What Apple is trying to do in the long term isn't sustainable. No Apple product will be a failure, but some years will be better than others.
 
Last edited:
Gosh, I am surprised.
I guessed that orders were down this year, as 6S phones are still available to pre-order for launch day.
Fair play Apple.. good work.
Tim Cook is the wizard of supply chain management.
 
There should be no reason for a S cycle model to not beat the first version simply because supply is always better on the S cycle and so most of the people who want one can get one on the first weekend unlike the iPhone 6/6+

What evidence is there of that? If anything, I would support the idea that demand is typically lower on the S Cycle, since it isn't attracting as many people seeking the iPhone for it's new looks (unlike the Non S cycle).
 
It is not a fair comparison since last year did not include China in the first weekend pre-order sales.

Good point. There really is no comparison because China is a huge market and by launching in China they are getting a bump to first weekend sales that is being drawn forward out of a China launch that last year happened later in the quarter. Last year there was a bump a month later when China launched.

However, one key thing is that Apple's launch weekend sales are limited much more by supply than demand. Last year Apple sold 10 million in the launch weekend, but we know (because the phones actually sold later) that there were many times that folks in the world who wanted to buy it. I was one of them who didn't pre-order because I wanted to see the Plus in person before deciding. So really Apple is telling us only that they've improved launch day yields and that demand hasn't cratered. Demand for this model world wide could still be less than for the iPhone 6. We won't really know until we have a full quarter of sale information.
 
Impressive, though it surprises me slightly. I would have thought it would sell about the same or less than last years model.

But, what do I know? :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: dilap
"and we will have iPhone 6s Plus as well as iPhone 6s units available at Apple retail stores when they open next Friday." Translation -- Wall St. you're clueless and we're gonna have the lines outside the stores to prove it!!!!
 
Two people so far in my family are upgrading (besides me). One coming from a 5, another from the 5S. On the last earnings call Apple said the percentage of install base that upgraded to the 6/6 Plus was still pretty low. So I expect a lot of 5/5S/5C owners to upgrade this cycle.
 
What evidence is there of that? If anything, I would support the idea that demand is typically lower on the S Cycle, since it isn't attracting as many people seeking the iPhone for it's new looks (unlike the Non S cycle).

Launch weekend sales are limited by supply not by demand. Apple regularly sells every iPhone it has on launch weekend and this year is unlikely to be an exception. You watch, every store in the U.S. will be sold out by the end of the weekend. Same thing will happen in China and everywhere else in the world. The supply chain is so strong that new phones will come in from place to place and time to time, but there won't be any Apple stores just sitting there with iPhones on the shelf available for purchase by the end of even the first launch day, much less through Sunday when re-supply shipments dry up. If Apple had had 15 million iPhone 6 available for sale last year, it would have sold them all on launch weekend. This is especially the case if it had launched in China that weekend. So launch numbers are really just Apple and Tim Cook showing off how much supply they are able to stockpile ahead of launch. And I think it is easier to stockpile the S cycle phones because form factor and assembly is much more similar to the phones the manufacturers have been producing for a year already.
 
Also, pre-orders started on a Thrusday night at midnight last year. They probably have to wait until the end of today to get full numbers for their "opening weekend". I won't even pretend to understand how they could pump out more orders with literally hours to go before Monday is over, but I'm sure they have ways to get a few more sales quickly to get to a safe number of pre-orders to keep Wall st. at bay.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.