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

[Technarchy]

I'm okay with this. I probably won't get a 5S till November or December.

I have my GS4 to amuse me till then

 

[samcraig]

Life is all about the little things -- like being a smug prick and telling people "Yes, this is the new one. I love it" or "I bought it yesterday, it's awesome."

And yes, it's tremendously fulfilling.

If you really wanted to feel smug and superior - wouldn't it be better to tell people you got it for free? You know - really come up with a great story to not only show off you have the new phone - but that you lucked into it while they keep hitting refresh on their browser because Apple's servers are overloaded?

 

[50548]

Just looking at your signature, it's clear you are a power user. But I'd stop far short of calling the 5C crap.

My younger siblings and both my parents are far from power users. The innards of the 5, and thus the 5C, are more than adequate for the casual user. It's also $100 cheaper on contract. So for them, it's a great buy.

To say the 5C is crap is going far too negative on it. Benchmarks and raw processing don't matter to most the world.

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My thought exactly. In the same boat.

I am far from being a power user; am just a longtime Apple fan. But this doesn't stop me from criticizing the company based on past experience, particularly when we see that the only purpose of the 5C is to increase Apple's margins with lower R&D investment and virtually zero innovation from the existing iPhone 5, while at the same praising its "color" options and horrendous cases as something "awesome".

 

[rixax]

Iphone 5S shipping date

If supply is that short in the US then I guess I'll get my new iphone here in Toronto when I get my new macbook pro.

"Ya gotta feed the hand that bites ya."

 

[jmerchlinsky]

Those on this forum who think the impending shortag is some sort of publicity stunt are, sorry to be harsh but, complete idiots. Wall Street isn't impressed with lines on 5th avenue, they're impressed with the cold hard cash Apple makes everytime an iPhone is sold.

There is no doubt that the supply constraints are due to ramping up volume production with a lot of new components, and in particular you have to suspect the fingerprint sensor which is a very novel technology.

On top of that they are launching in the US, UK, China, Japan, etc. all at the same time. It's not easy to go from 0 to 2 million per week in the snap of the fingers. It only takes a shortage on one component to hold up the entire production line.

So, please stop with the conspiracy theories. : )

 

[50548]

It's actually more like this: OVER-DELIVER on higher margins (5c) and UNDER-DELIVER on lower margins (5s)

Smart move by Apple in my opinion.

It's only smart if millions fall into the trap of the 5C - which won't happen in my opinion, especially since it's almost as expensive as the current iPhone 5...which defeats the purpose of the 5C as a "cheaper phone" anyway.

 

[mykem]

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!

Tell her that babies aren't supply constraint and that the gestation period between each iPhones takes 3 months longer than pregnancy. And give her your old phone so that she can capture the whole thing and play it later (that is after you've unboxed and played with the iPhone)

 

[50548]

Whether intentional or not this will push more people to buy the 5c, no?



The up voting on that post I think is quite interesting and rather telling, don't you think?

Sorry, I don't regard participation in these forums as a popularity contest.

 

[Rogifan]

just propaganda marketing creating an illusion of short supply and high demand. Nothing new to see here.

Yeah because people will just sit around and wait and not possibly buy a different phone. Why in the world would Apple take that chance? They don't need to create hype anymore.

 

[paradox00]

3GS to 4: major redesign, retina, iconic
4S to 5: major redesign, LTE
5 to 5S: fingerprint scanner, first 64 bit iPhone, motion co-processor

Fixed.

S doesn't mean minor redesign. It generally means major internal improvements, with a similar external design (Apple first said it stood for "speed"). Major redesigns go further than skin deep. If you think otherwise, go buy a 5c, its case got a "major" redesign.

 

[samcraig]

It's only smart if millions fall into the trap of the 5C - which won't happen in my opinion, especially since it's almost as expensive as the current iPhone 5...which defeats the purpose of the 5C as a "cheaper phone" anyway.

I don't think it was ever meant to be a cheaper phone. I wrote in other threads that this is Apple's way of keeping their flagship phone - the "iPhone" as premier while offering the previous model - instead of being an "old" model - being the fun/quirky model. It's actually a pretty smart idea except for the off-contract pricing. On contract pricing for the 5C vs 5S makes decent sense. Not everyone wants or needs the new physical features but would prefer to spend a little less and also have color choices.

 

[nutmac]

Constrained inventory, along with 16GB 5s overlapping with 32GB 5c at same price point, lead me to think that Apple should not have even bothered with 16GB 5s.

 

[tongxinshe]

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 guess they already do, allowing pre-order or not. However, not all of the parts and tools are ready-in-volume 2 months ago, so they cannot produce as much in the last 2 months, comparing with what they can produce in the next 2 months.

 

[rcalderoni]

3AM it is.

3AM will put you at the end of the line. I got there at 11PM the previous evening and I was 10th in line... and this was no major city...

 

[Rogifan]

Do you think these stories are FUD or that Apple has plenty of iPhone 5S's and is only letting them trickle out to stores in the first week or two? Reminds me of how Nintendo kept interest in the Wii going several years ago.

Wasn't it Tim Cook who said inventory was evil? Now we're supposed to believe he's got a warehouse somewhere full of 5S's and he's purposely holding back supply....even though I'm sure he'd love to report huge sales figures next week and for the September quarter end?

 

[pjjames1]

Apple is smart...

 

[samcraig]

Fixed.

S doesn't mean minor redesign. It generally means major internal improvements, with a similar external design (Apple first said it stood for "speed"). Major redesigns go further than skin deep. If you think otherwise, go buy a 5c, its case got a "major" redesign.

You both omitted a crucial item

4 to 4S Not exactly HUGE in my opinion. Others would argue differently.

 

[scottsjack]

How hard is it to make a phone that's a minor variant of the phone they were already making?

Not so hard at all. It's called the iPhone 5C.

 

[Geckotek]

They should've just waited to launch it. I'm sure everyone would've understood.

LOL, nope. We'd have another thread full of people moaning and groaning just like this one. It's happened in past years.

 

[paradox00]

I am far from being a power user; am just a longtime Apple fan. But this doesn't stop me from criticizing the company based on past experience, particularly when we see that the only purpose of the 5C is to increase Apple's margins with lower R&D investment and virtually zero innovation from the existing iPhone 5, while at the same praising its "color" options and horrendous cases as something "awesome".

Why should you care? It's not like keeping the iPhone 5 around would be innovative anyway. A lot of people are falling in love with the 5c design too. All companies exist to make money. This isn't new.

 

[MacintoshMan]

Last year, I had to feed my two kids only top Ramen for 3 months straight to afford to purchase the latest iPhone outright! This year, the Los angeles public school system expanded breakfast in classroom to almost a full daycare service, for free!

I just got in line outside my local apple store, I sure hope the gov doesn't find out im here instead of looking for a job like i've been reporting to my unemployment ^_^

SO STOKED GUIZ!

 

[MH01]

What are you talking about? Even though the case is largely the same (with the exception of the home button) _everything_ inside that case is completely new:

1. New A7 chip
2. New M7 chip
3. New Camera
4. New Flash
5. New Fingerprint Sensor

"Minor Variant" my ass.

I swear that most of the posters on this forum surely must be plants by Samsung and Microsoft....

right, and you must be a qualified engineer, who just posted the 5 components that makes up a phone???

Best ask you ass, it might know more about hardware then you do

 

[Rogifan]

IMO, this is all an artificial scarcity for a publicity stunt in hope for a stock bounce. First, no pre-orders for the 5S. Now a report of "scarcity" with no hard data.

Apple could easily have a public web page showing the supply of iPhone stock at all stores in almost real time to the public. Many companies on line do this for warehouse components to assure delivery times.

This all tells me they want to show crowds of people around Apple stores like the first iPhone launch to impress Wall Street.

So you think stores are going to be full of phones on Friday? Because the only thing Wall Street cares about is getting a press release from Apple next Monday saying they sold a crap load more phones than they did last year this time.

 

[vpro]

typical mad consumerism

typical, typical of mad rush consumers pouting, good luck to all those holding their breaths. it's just another fone. or is it?

 

[Mickyj13]

It's only smart if millions fall into the trap of the 5C - which won't happen in my opinion, especially since it's almost as expensive as the current iPhone 5...which defeats the purpose of the 5C as a "cheaper phone" anyway.

I can see your point, but there is a huge market of teens out there who aren't nearly as interested in quality as they are fashion. When my teen asked for an iPhone, I told him no because it was too expensive to upgrade from his old phone. For a lot of parents, 100 bucks could be the difference between a yes and no. With the teens, the colors just adds more incentive to pressure parents into buying them.