Early iPhone 5 Purchases Trend Toward iPhone 4S Upgraders and Black Models Amid Long Lines

[gnasher729]

Naomi Campbell bought one?
Cool!

And her PA is really happy that she didn't get a Samsung Galaxy

Well, I'll take that back. Being hit by 100g of metal+glass probably hurts more than 133g of plastic.

 

[chatin]

Much faster on AT&T. Activation a breeze. Must buy!

This phone activated like lightning and is very fast on AT&T's network. No LTE in the upper right corner but the 3G is gone. Speed is dramatically improved. Faster than Wi-Fi.

This phone is quickly turning into a must buy. Turned down a potential $800 profit in favor of doing the ultimate smartphone expierence.

 

[Medium Rare]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Caliber26]

Well I sold my 32gb 4S for $475, and upgrdaded to a 5 32gb with an early upgrade fee for $549 (plus tax).
Sure, it didn't cover the cost completely... but for around $100 I have the latest of iPhone for the next year+. Since it is basically glued to me and my most used item every day, it is well worth it to me.

I think eventually smart developers will make great use of the extra screen space, and visiting this forum a lot, I know I'd feel like I am missing out! Also, LTE is available where I live.

AT&T let me keep my unlimted data (3G soft cap was 3gb before slowing down, LTE cap is 5gb!), and as much as I have my gripes with AT&T I am probably not going anywhere soon. At worse, I lost out on $110 (11 months x $10 per month) of credit towards an ETF fee. No big deal.

I also wanted to get off the "S" cycle. I had a 3GS, so I skipped the 4, then got the 4S. Now I'm back on a regular re-design cycle (but who knows how tempting the 5S will be :-D)

There are worse things I could spend $100 on, by far.

I couldn't agree with you anymore. I sold my 4S (32GB) for $450 and feel the small amount I paid to upgrade is well worth it. And, like you, I would like to stay off the "S" cycle but one never knows what MUST-HAVE feature will be introduced next year. It's a vicious trap!

 

[faroZ06]

Munster has now released his own results on iPhone 5 customer profiles, painting a very different picture than that seen by White. Munster's survey of 517 iPhone 5 buyers found just 26% of them upgrading from the iPhone 4S, compared to 50% in White's survey. Munster's survey found that 45% of customers were upgrading from the iPhone 4, while White pegged that number at just 11%. Finally, while White's data showed 36% of customers were moving from a non-iPhone, Munster's data put the number closer to 17%, with the vast discrepancies across the board illustrating the unreliability of such surveys.

Isn't it awkward when the article later contradicts itself?

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This phone activated like lightning and is very fast on AT&T's network. No LTE in the upper right corner but the 3G is gone. Speed is dramatically improved. Faster than Wi-Fi.

This phone is quickly turning into a must buy. Turned down a potential $800 profit in favor of doing the ultimate smartphone expierence.

It's not faster than wifi.

 

[jonnysods]

No luck for me today.

 

[Keyhole]

And in other news, the earth is round and the sun is hot.

 

[ikramerica]

While all those fools were in line for the iPhone 5, mine had already been delivered by UPS and I was waiting in the hot sun for the space shuttle to fly over JPL. Pretty damn cool to see the 747 fly a few hundred feet over my head and bank right in front of me. Now THAT was something worth waiting in the sun for, a last in a lifetime opportunity. I've had a little model of the 747 transport and the Space Shuttle sitting on top since I was a kid, and finally got to see it flying.

Waiting out in the 100 degree heat for an iPhone? That's for silly people...

 

[ikramerica]

gosh i don't even know where to start with you.

2/2011 + 18 months = August 2013
2/2011 + 20 months = October 2013

Learn to add before you correct others.

Try August 2012 or October 2012 depending on your contract.

As others have stated, there will be a rush of VZW customers upgrading in October who have a 20 month upgrade clause in their contract. Not sure it will be a huge number, but it might create a Verizon version shortage soon after.

Then again, it's already into October to get an upgrade (3-4 weeks) via internet orders.
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[bit density]

In Seattle at Uvillage Store

At 2:00 PM They had hundreds of phones still available in white and black for both AT&T and Horizon and no line left. They were only out of 32GB black (the one that I wanted) for AT&T. it looked like that they had about 150 left in 16G Black and about 50 in 64GB Black.

I did get a free bear claw and water, and didn't get a 64G model because I pre-ordered a 32G model and it was a pain in the A to cancel it. If they have 32G tomorrow, and I have the time I may get it tomorrow.

At the AT&T store at the same time they only had 2 left, one 16G white and one 64G white.

There should be plenty of phones available after today.

And the phone is THIN not too much taller, actually feels more like the "right" size, and it seems way too light. I am sure I will get used to it. But it doesn't have the same "density" of the old phones, and that made them feel like a real piece of machinery. The new phone is VERY light.

 

[Snowshiro]

Many of the people who wait in line for launch day are going to be fanatics who buy every iPhone that Apple make. Of course there's going to be a higher than average 4S upgrader total.

 

[celloman]

Assuming 8 million launch day sales (probably much less, but it really doesn't matter much, we know it will be in the millions and the numbers don't change that much from 2M to 8M), a 95% confidence level and a CI of ~10 then yea, 100 users would be statistically acceptable. Not great, but usable.

There are other confounding factors (lack of geographic diversity in the sample size, for example) but I'd imagine the overall trends outlined would be correct.

You can't make any claim about the aggregate in such a small survey. It wasn't a sample, but a survey. I disagree with the fact that it's statistically acceptable. It is not an accurate reflection of the population.

 

[skyenet]

And in other news, the earth is round and the sun is hot.

Indeed the sun is hot as we discovered queuing for the iPhone 5 release in Glasgow. Most of had no idea what the sun even looked like as it seems ages since we have seen it. So it was a lovely surprise for it to shine on us as dawn broke. We will take your word that the Earth is round.

The majority of people I spoke to in the queue were upgrading from the iPhone 4, which is exactly what I was doing. Black 32Gb seemed to be the most popular choice as well. Also those paying by credit card were dealt with much quicker once in the store. I joined the queue shortly after 5am and walked out of the Apple store with my phone before 9am so not bad. I went for a Black 64Gb model. That was bought outright and Sim free. Have a Sim only contract with Three Mobile (300 Minutes, 2000 There to Three Minutes, 3,000 Texts and unlimited Data £13 a month) and they transferred my number from my iPhone 4 to the new iPhone 5 Sim and the actual transfer was all completed about 3 hours later. Very pleased so far with my Purchase and certainly a great upgrade to an iPhone 4. If I had had an iPhone 4s I wouldn't have bothered upgrading to the iPhone 5.

 

[DVDxR]

You can't make any claim about the aggregate in such a small survey. It wasn't a sample, but a survey. I disagree with the fact that it's statistically acceptable. It is not an accurate reflection of the population.

Based on?

 

[RobertMartens]

I still find this data nonsense. The people who wait in line are a different breed then people who prefer to have the phone delivered to them.

Exactly, it's like comparing horses and pigs. Or Pigs and dogs. Or... You know what I mean,

 

[RobertMartens]

I'm really pissed right now. I ordered the iphone 5 last Friday but they gave me an October 5th pick up day. Ok, I said, no problem, let me try to see if I can pick one up at the store today. So there ARE some at the Apple Store, but now that I go and try and cancel the preorder, I cannot! It says it's being prepped for shipping but still a delivery date of 10/5! WTF??!! Apple really screwed up on this one, I've never had such an issue before and I've had 3 other iPhones! So for the next 2 weeks, I'm out of luck even though there's availability right in front of me! This is the last ****** time I preorder! What a waste of my time!

Your rant seems to have been very therapeutic for you. And you even found a conclusion. Better luck with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 (8th gen)

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Many of the people who wait in line for launch day are going to be fanatics who buy every iPhone that Apple make. Of course there's going to be a higher than average 4S upgrader total.

What's the difference between a fan and a fanatic.

 

[mrsir2009]

Of course most of the people in line were upgrading from the 4S - The people who wait in those lines are the very people that have waited in those lines for every single iPhone

 

[MRU]

Statistics are so much fun... Or at least 67% say so.

 

[NMSUballa]

I love Apple but no phone is worth the $300 fee to break the contract.

 

[nick_elt]

cant wait for the iPhone 5s they will be introducing Siri's husband or cousin

Well in the deep south, siris husband will ALSO infact be her cousin.

 

[ChesneyHawkes]

Vic Reeves was quoted in a Guinness advert as saying that 88.2% of all statistics were made up.

 

[pmz]

This is shocking. I feel like its not much of an upgrade from the 4S. Not enough to sign for another two years and pay full price. From a 4 I'd understand.

My 4S is slick and smooth on iOS 6. I'm having trouble seeing what the big push from 4S to 5 is for.

Software-wise there is not much difference at all, but folks like hardware upgrades because they are new and shiny. If you guys are on the "S Upgrade Cycle" like I am, then you are probably more concerned about missing out on software features. The iPhone 5S will be the big software upgrade to compensate for largely the same hardware (hopefully from a hardware perspective we get fingerprint recognition in the home button for unlocking the phone).



Definitely. Most iPhone 4 owners would have pre-ordered. The iPhone 4S owners were debating and wanting to see the reviews first. Then many of them suffered anxiety of not having the latest iPhone because they saw how good it was going to be. I went through much of this and I just kept telling myself that I did not need to spend the money and that my 4S was a great iPhone. But part of me wanted to go down and stand in line last night and get an iPhone 5. I imagine other people had the same struggle and many of them did cave in and they had to get in line to get one since the pre-orders moved to 3-4 week delays for shipping.

Oh, its the headphone jack on the bottom.

Just kidding....these folks just want the latest and have the money to throw around to make that happen.

Find it hard to understand as well since the 4S does everything that iOS 6 brings to it, but hey if that's what they want, go for it.

Where do you people come from?

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Many of the people who wait in line for launch day are going to be fanatics who buy every iPhone that Apple make. Of course there's going to be a higher than average 4S upgrader total.

Come up with that all on your own, did ya?

 

[olegandbuster25]

Software-wise there is not much difference at all, but folks like hardware upgrades because they are new and shiny. If you guys are on the "S Upgrade Cycle" like I am, then you are probably more concerned about missing out on software features. The iPhone 5S will be the big software upgrade to compensate for largely the same hardware (hopefully from a hardware perspective we get fingerprint recognition in the home button for unlocking the phone).



Definitely. Most iPhone 4 owners would have pre-ordered. The iPhone 4S owners were debating and wanting to see the reviews first. Then many of them suffered anxiety of not having the latest iPhone because they saw how good it was going to be. I went through much of this and I just kept telling myself that I did not need to spend the money and that my 4S was a great iPhone. But part of me wanted to go down and stand in line last night and get an iPhone 5. I imagine other people had the same struggle and many of them did cave in and they had to get in line to get one since the pre-orders moved to 3-4 week delays for shipping.

That is some good old thinking man. Sounds very possible indeed.

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Of course most of the people in line were upgrading from the 4S - The people who wait in those lines are the very people that have waited in those lines for every single iPhone

Not true (from personal experience)
I stood in every line and just yesterday met someone else who has done the same

 

[blueracer]

i dont think this article is acurate, you need at least 1000 people to get a good idea of who's getting what from what previous model phone.

 

[damitssam]

This phone activated like lightning and is very fast on AT&T's network. No LTE in the upper right corner but the 3G is gone. Speed is dramatically improved. Faster than Wi-Fi.

This phone is quickly turning into a must buy. Turned down a potential $800 profit in favor of doing the ultimate smartphone expierence.

If you guys are going crazy for LTE i dunno what to tell you except welcome to 2012... LOL. Good for you guys though. I'm still stuck on 3g with my i4. And no LTE here until end of the year