Cynical, and calculated

[Zerilos]

As a relatively recent (3 years) convert to the Apple Way of Doing Things, I find myself somewhat baffled by the 5S rollout. I say this because it seems to be calculated; new device; little inventory; make lines. I thought that Tim Cook seemed to be a decent guy; stepping into the shoes of a legend cannot be easy. But even with Apple, with all their clout and cool credibility, this just reeks of hubris. Show the world how bad they want us. Make them beg, we will give them what they want when we choose to. But most importantly, we are Apple; we rule the universe, and They will eagerly take what we choose to give them.

I will buy an iPhone 5s, because I'm due an upgrade. But I won't stand in line to do it.

I love Apple. But not unconditionally.

Can't think of a reason why Apple would intentionally limit supply to the point where some people have to wait up to a month to get one. Even with adequate supplies, you'd still have people waiting in lines to get their new phone. By making people wait, you risk having customers change their mind and gain nothing. Believe it or not, it's not easy to make millions of high tech devices in which if even a single part is out of alignment the device won't work.

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i don't know if it was intentional or, more likely, simple production constraints, but I don't think the dramatic wait sits well with the average customer (not referring to the Apple fans, me included, on this forum ). I was out last Saturday morning (weekend of launch) at a shopping center in our area. As I entered beside the Apple Store, I noticed they had ropes up for a line with employees at the entrance giving customers tickets to get in. It made no sense because the store was not close to full (I've seen many more people browsing on other weekends) and there were very few people entering the line (none actually standing in line) and yet they had this elaborate roped-off setup to gain entrance. I saw several groups of people walking by, attempting to just walk in and look around and being told to get in the (nonexistent) line and they all looked perturbed. I heard one woman telling her family the entire situation was "ridiculous" and "not worth it at this point". So I do give some credence to the theory they might be staging demand. It just seemed that way. I walked back by after lunch on my way back to the car and there was still no one in line. I would have liked to walk in and check out the gold iPhone 5s but did not want to go through a hassle to enter so I walked on. This was at Southpoint in Durham, NC.

That was probably because they had a limited quantity of iPhone 5s in stock and they needed to establish an orderly fashion to fairly determine who gets them rather than having angry customers duke it out in the middle of the store. i'm willing to bet that customers who weren't planning to buy a 5s were allowed in.

 

[Radiating]

Maybe they're really not doing it on purpose. IDK, we always hear how huge Apple is, how rich and powerful. But maybe making more than 9 million iPhones in 2 months is really beyond them and their supply partners? Like I said, IDK, but I'd like to think that they don't do this on purpose.

Agreed it's not low supply it's high demand

 

[KPOM]

As a relatively recent (3 years) convert to the Apple Way of Doing Things, I find myself somewhat baffled by the 5S rollout. I say this because it seems to be calculated; new device; little inventory; make lines. I thought that Tim Cook seemed to be a decent guy; stepping into the shoes of a legend cannot be easy. But even with Apple, with all their clout and cool credibility, this just reeks of hubris.

They had 80% more phones on hand this year than last year. Believe me, I'm sure Tim Cook would rather have had 15 million iPhones ready at launch than 9 million. Apple's in business to sell phones, not create long lines a week after the launch date. It's pretty much a given that they'll have a crowd on Day 1. But consider that the most successful iPad launches (3 and 4) witnessed no shortages whatsoever.

The fact is that the iPhone is in high demand at every launch. If Apple "delays" the launch to have more phones available, they'll just have more customers waiting.

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I think this is just bad all around. Apple should be above this stuff, or just know better. As I mentioned before, it reeks of hubris, and I think that it benefits no-one; not Apple nor it's many fans. I don't know what Cook and the BrainTrust were thinking; what I suspect what they were thinking greatly disappoints me.

Go ahead and rip me.

No matter how many phones Apple has available at launch, there will be higher demand than supply. It's pretty simple. Apple sold every iPhone 5s it could and a lot of 5cs to boot. If it had 2x the 5s stock, it would have probably sold them all, as well.

earlier reports said yields with the fingerprint reader were lower than expected. This seems like a more plausible explanation to me than any kind of conspiracy theory....

At the end of the day, sales drive profits. Not conspiracies.

I am not suggesting that Apple is doing anything, um, shady. Only that I feel to launch a new product without having inventory to support the launch is, well, unprofessional. Apple knows well what demand for a new iPhone is like, and they went with this schedule knowing they would not be able to support demand, and I suggest that this is not exactly cricket. The current demand conundrum is exactly what they want. Someone else said it first, but I will concur: they want lines. They want people desperate for the New Thing. I'm really not criticizing; it's good business; keep the fanbase hungry and rabid. But this time, this approach simply reeks of hubris and Hollywood. I am disappointed in Apple. And I know that's naive.
But, as I am sure someone will say, they are a company. They exist to make money, not to please anyone. How can you be disappointed in something so crass as a company? Point taken.

But still.....

Then delay the launch for 2-3 weeks and have ample supply so that your customers don't have to waste their time camping for phones. Seems calculated to me. Nobody knows their supply numbers but apple.

If they delayed the release 2-3 weeks: First - Google would announce its Nexus 5 and Samsung would announce its phone with a curved display, both of which could possibly cost it some sales. Second - People who bought phones between 9/20/13 and 10/10/13 would be in line/online on 10/11/13 to buy the phone, leading to similar conditions.

There actually are phones in most of the stores right now. However, it's mostly limited to Space Gray and 64GB capacities.

Maybe they're really not doing it on purpose. IDK, we always hear how huge Apple is, how rich and powerful. But maybe making more than 9 million iPhones in 2 months is really beyond them and their supply partners? Like I said, IDK, but I'd like to think that they don't do this on purpose.

For all the talk about how high tech these devices are (and they are) it's important to remember that they are assembled largely by hand. We complain as it is about the so-called slave labor conditions in FoxConn factories. Had Apple hired double the contractors for FoxConn or requested that they work 16 hour shifts we'd be reading exposes in the NY Times or Guardian about how Apple is churning out millions of phones on the backs of low-paid workers.