iPhone 5s Inventory Said to Be 'Severely Constrained' at Launch

[DEXTERITY]

My iPhone 4 ... yes the FOUR, still runs perfectly. I'll stick to this model until it doesn't run anymore or I choose to switch to T-Mobile and can't take the lower speeds.

Really? Mine is slower than an old man peeing. Maybe its Verizon....

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

And for the seventh time now -- no, this is not true, they want to be able to have supply match demand. They can't just snap fingers and make factories appear. There are only a handful of chip fabs on the planet that can make many of the key components, they literally cost billions of dollars and years to set up, per fab. If Apple could have an iPhone ready to go for everyone who wanted one on launch day, they absolutely would do that. Apple does not need gimmicks to build hype, they are the kings of hype already. Deal with it, you have no understanding of basic business.

Isn't creating a false sense of demand to raise sales "basic business"?

Since there are no preorders for the 5S, how do they know it will be constrained when they have no idea how many people are going to want it on launch day? Maybe there will be lines down the block and maybe you can just walk in and get one because there aren't long lines. Who knows?

Just more typical Apple pranks.

 

[TheHateMachine]

You have no idea what you're talking about. You're less than 18 years old, right?

So you tell the guy he has no idea what he is talking about and instead of debunking or having any sort of conversation with conflicting points you proceed to call him a little kid.

Well, at least we know where you stand now.

 

[Badenmike]

Hi guys
I have extended my contract at T Mobile (Germany) today with an 5S silver 32GB.
Shipment is confirmed for beginning of next week #
Cheers

 

[lilo777]

It's calculated. They want the phone to have sold out. They want you to then want it more because it is. And they want you to wait in line.

There were reports on Digitimes about suppliers having low yields on camera lenses and fingerprint sensors. That could be factor.

 

[zecks420]

They did it on purpose to create demand for the Holiday season.

Demand = people talking = buzz = stock price surge = pass me the rolaids

LOL... Ya cause DEMAND pays the bills..All the Demand in the world don't sell a phone if its not there to sale you. So tired of this lame brain comment...Like Apple needs the buzz...please. Ya cause without that no one talks about Apple...lol

 

[Lancer]

I still think the capacities should have risen, drop the 16GB and have 32/64/128 on the 5s.

 

[jmerchlinsky]

It is not forced, and you can't solve all supply problems by throwing money or management at it. It has to do with global production capacity of smartphones (which is constrained as is widely known) and difficulty in forecasting (look at how many manufacturers have difficulties in selling their stock).

Umm, there is no global smartphone production constraint. That's silly. What is happening here is very likely a shortage of a specific component which has never been produced in volume before - the fingerprint reader. New components have a learning curve, it can take some time to get the expected yields. You can bet a lot of engineers are working late nights to get the production snags sorted out.

 

[clibinarius]

You have no idea what you're talking about. You're less than 18 years old, right?

I appreciate the engineering work. But I don't think you realize why more and more people are buying Samsung phones, nor do I think you appreciate sarcasm.

So call someone else a child. I hope a moderator saw your post.

I mean, when was the last time someone said the iPhone 5 was too slow? And given the speed of die-shrinks, one would hope Apple has a faster chip planned for next year. What's revolutionary about this?

A major variant would be a product easily distinguishable from other products. iPhone 5s has nothing of the sort. I don't buy the phone for the camera, and the iPhone 5 has a good camera anyway. If you do, great, but I'm thinking variant means VARIETY.

Like the Macbook Air 2013 being a very minor variant of the 2012. I have the 2013. It is a nice computer. But it isn't a major variant or even upgrade of my 2010. And, frankly, the jump to Haswell is far more innovative from Ivy Bridge than A6 to A7.

The more you know...

NFC Is currently useless, Notice the HTC one mini Does not have an NFC(This may become a trend)

Live in NYC? Those Metro North terminals have vending machines using NFC. As does my work.

Live in Asia? Talk to someone from Japan.

Like it or not, more people are using NFC. Just because you live in a part of the country that doesn't use it doesn't make it useless. You know, kind of like the people that said "LTE? Who needs that on a phone?"

-LTE was the reason we have bigger batteries and screen sizes today, also. Just a thought. And it is far superior to 3G anyway.

 

[V.K.]

And these are different storage pricing options than on other phones how? 😎 Everyone charges about the same 100 bucks to go from 32 to 64 etc..that is if they even have a 64GB option. You act like Apple is the only one charging a premium for phone Storage. And Micro SD slots are far and few between. If you stick to the "I am not buying a phone that dont have Micro-SD slot... good luck with that. You just eliminated all the great phones unfortunately...

I never mentioned micro SD-slots. expandable storage would be nice but it's pretty clear that Apple is not doing this. but they don't have to either. they can just offer a model with 128GB built-in storage.
as for pricing by other manufacturers, Apple doesn't need to follow them (they often don't btw) especially given their already high profit margins.
Others might need this pricing scheme because their base models are often very cheap. Apple's base models are not cheap and they make 40%+ profit margins even on the base models.
They can easily maintain high profit margins without charging quite so much for extra storage. I mean, why does it have to be like 80% margin for the extra storage?

 

[davidec]

Hi guys
I have extended my contract at T Mobile (Germany) today with an 5S silver 32GB.
Shipment is confirmed for beginning of next week #
Cheers

Hmmm that sounds a little dubious. If they've actually sold you one they are in serious breach of contract with

I hope it all goes well for you! I'd love my Telco to do the same!

 

[tbolt11]

I plan to order online 3am eastern time. My question is should I target apple.com or verizon.com for my order. I guess I can do both, but maybe someone has insight on which is a better outlet.

 

[Will do good]

Typical apple. Releasing a product it can't supply enough of on top of their premature iOS 7 launch.

It's call demand.

 

[Macwhich]

Im not going to say there is not a market for 128 gig. But i think there is a bigger market for the 16 gig. You could argue that if the prices would be the same for a 32/64/128 gb line then sure. But as it stands there doesnt seem to be that big a demand for it. Hence they keep the current lineup storage vice.

 

[zecks420]

Isn't creating a false sense of demand to raise sales "basic business"?

Since there are no preorders for the 5S, how do they know it will be constrained when they have no idea how many people are going to want it on launch day? Maybe there will be lines down the block and maybe you can just walk in and get one because there aren't long lines. Who knows?

Just more typical Apple pranks.

Who knows? Usually you take the last um... IDK EVERY iphone launch so far for a little measuring stick? Considering the demand for every iphone sold yet and the number of sales figures from like the last IDK... 5 years would give them a good idea 🙄

 

[dBeats]

Apple's logic in capacity is crazy and flawed.

The fact they double capacity for $100 is nuts. The profit made on 32GB and 64GB models is outrageous. I think the cost was once posted that Apple pays $8-11 more for the 32GB and $16 more for the 64GB.

So Apple is charging $200 more for the 64GB and their costs only increase by $16.

Now take that logic to Starbucks and you realize that a lot of companies do this. Is a venti Mocha twice the cost of a tall? Nope. Actually it's about 5¢ more cost. It's business man, get used to it....

 

[paradox00]

Smarter thing is to allow pre-order phones 2 months ahead. This allows Apple to produce the quantity they need to meet the initial demand.

I'm pretty sure they've been running production at full capacity for at least two months now. People grossly underestimate how difficult it is to produce the volume of phones Apple sells on opening weekend.

 

[Blorzoga]

That put all these stupid gadgets into perspective. I always thought the same thing but didn't know how properly to phrase it, nor did I have a personal anecdote like you do.

Sorry to hear 🙁

You didn't actually believe that BS did you?

 

[Nicky G]

I appreciate the engineering work. But I don't think you realize why more and more people are buying Samsung phones, nor do I think you appreciate sarcasm.

So call someone else a child. I hope a moderator saw your post.

We've all been youthfully ignorant at a point, it's kind of inherent in the human condition. However, when someone is obviously ignorant of how something works or basic facts, I don't see any issue with calling them out on it.

More and more people are buying both iPhones AND Samsung smartphones, by the way. It's a growing market. More users who have owned an Android phone convert to an iPhone for their next purchase than vice versa, however -- by a significant margin. That's a more interesting metric, I think. Or you could look at profit, which Apple still commands the majority of in the GLOBAL CELLULAR PHONE MARKET. It does come down to profit, after all -- this business of selling phones is not a charity.

 

[unobtainium]

Does this have to do with specifically a shortage of fingerprint sensor chips since it's such new tech?

Doesn't matter if you have say 10 million of the shells and screens ready if you can only have 5 million fingerprint chips to put in them.

Ding ding ding.

 

[jeremycusa]

Missing the birth of your first born

My wife is at a hospital right now, about to give birth to our first child.

I feel so bad that I can't be with her right now as I've joined the line at the Apple store Fifth Avenue. So stoked!

Don't sweat it dude. If you weren't there for the conception, I'm sure she won't mind this. I hope you get the color you expected - phone that is!

 

[zecks420]

Apple cant make enough iPhones for demand and haters call it a "Prank"... "Just Apple up to its tricks"... Lol. If you think selling out all the time and demand outpacing production a trick... Guess the jokes on you. 😎

 

[dBeats]

Live in NYC? Those Metro North terminals have vending machines using NFC. As does my work.

Live in Asia? Talk to someone from Japan.

Like it or not, more people are using NFC...

Careful. That's like saying Windows 7 is better because more people use it. I think we can all agree THAT'S not true. NFC has many security issues and it's not a viable long term payment system. The reason it works in Japan is that they are so honest there, and Japanese OEMs supported it. Now that there's basically no real Japanese mobile OEM, NFC is not a national pride point anymore. They'll go with what's best...

 

[Nicky G]

Umm, there is no global smartphone production constraint. That's silly. What is happening here is very likely a shortage of a specific component which has never been produced in volume before - the fingerprint reader. New components have a learning curve, it can take some time to get the expected yields. You can bet a lot of engineers are working late nights to get the production snags sorted out.

Of course there is a global constraint. Or are you saying there are an infinite amount of production resources in terms of component supply, factories, labor, shipping, etc.?

Not saying you're wrong about the finger sensor possibly/probably being one of the KEY areas of constraint, but there is technically constraint for every single component.

 

[djgamble]

The media's talking it down, saying Androids are the better option and airbrushing ove the significant features. Consequently they would be fool to make a loooot then sell not many.

Wasn't there an article on this? They have an advanced system that adjusts manufacturing so that sales/production are tuned together.

Also "sold out on first weekend" makes it sound popular. Make less, sell all and you're still sold out!

---

Sad launch though. We knew what we were getting 6 months ago, all photos were leaked by wankaz in China, media didn't give it any blessings...etc.

Apple needs to work on their secrecy!!!! The iPhone 6 needs to just come out of nowhere, with no leaks, just like the iMac!!!