Lack of iP7 Plus - Why?

[mattopotamus]

It probably has a lot to do with the number of countries they launched in so early.

 

[dotnet]

So does any one know real reason for this epic fail?

Yes. For several months every analyst, every blog and every Internet forum (including this one) has been telling them that there would be absolutely no interest in the iPhone 7(+). So they only made a handful. Who could have guessed that the analysts, bloggers and forum posters were all full of ****?

 

[xofruitcake]

She was told this by her boss. Clearly CS supervisors were not happy about it, as it caused them 10's of thousands of extra customer service calls. I certainly can see a CS supervisor inquiring about what the hell is going on, and being frustrated when hearing "it's out of our control right now, Apple is calling the shots on inventory, and ours have been delayed". At least that is what I was told.

I tends to think that Apple is doing a proportional cut to everyone including all the Apple stores across the globe. We look at Apple, ATT, Version etc here and does not seem to realize that there are 25 countries in this launch and each countries has 2-4 carriers. It is a very long term relationships that Apple is building with all the carriers. The relationship will last until Apple does not sell any more phones. I don't think Apple is so stupid (and for that matter, any of the carrier will just just let Apple get away) to hog all the device for the IUP member. IUP member can also do carrier finance, so carrier are not losing any subscriber and the carrier clients are Apple's clients. Getting them upset does not help Apple's cause. There are hundreds of carriers around the world that face the same problem with 7+ this year, do anyone really think Apple will stiff all of them and none of them are speaking publicly about the situation? (except the supervisor and his/her boss, of course).. This is a multiple billions decision. I would think Apple is going to do it by the book.. If someone is really getting into conspiracy theory, why would some Apple store get more 7+ than other Apple stores? Why should China customer already see some Jet black 7 while it seems to be a rare find in US?

 

[Ronnoco]

I tends to think that Apple is doing a proportional cut to everyone including all the Apple stores across the globe. We look at Apple, ATT, Version etc here and does not seem to realize that there are 25 countries in this launch and each countries has 2-4 carriers. It is a very long term relationships that Apple is building with all the carriers. The relationship will last until Apple does not sell any more phones. I don't think Apple is so stupid (and for that matter, any of the carrier will just just let Apple get away) to hog all the device for the IUP member. IUP member can also do carrier finance, so carrier are not losing any subscriber and the carrier clients are Apple's clients. Getting them upset does not help Apple's cause. There are hundreds of carriers around the world that face the same problem with 7+ this year, do anyone really think Apple will stiff all of them and none of them are speaking publicly about the situation? (except the supervisor and his/her boss, of course).. This is a multiple billions decision. I would think Apple is going to do it by the book.. If someone is really getting into conspiracy theory, why would some Apple store get more 7+ than other Apple stores? Why should China customer already see some Jet black 7 while it seems to be a rare find in US?

The IUP people filed a class action suite against Apple. Apple wanted no part of that, and did what it had to to avoid the bad press of a class action mucking up what was already a pretty mucked up launch. The carriers aren't going to do anything about it. They need Apple more than Apple needs them. Whatever Apple did, it both appeased the pissed off IUP group enough to drop the lawsuit, and also caused even more delays for people who purchased from major carriers. What a cluster ****.

 

[bluespark]

1st year marketing school stuff eh? And where are you in the curriculum? Is it not conceivable that demand outstripped supply? Is it also not conceivable that during this time when Samsungs are getting horrible press that it's in Apple'a best interest to get as many iPhones into people's hands as possible? Purposely limiting supply when your primary competitor is down and hurt strikes me as an insanely stupid business move.

Exactly. I don't know why people insist that this is an intentional move to create demand or that any business school would teach a company to create the shortage that exists right now. The fact is that while oversupply can be a problem and a slight undersupply can create the illusion of demand, product has to move for the seller to profit. If there is an extreme shortage of supply -- which obviously is the case here -- customers become frustrated and sales are lost. At this moment, more than a week after launch, there is no stock of a Verizon iPhone Plus in any color in any Apple Store in the U.S. That's a problem, and not just for would-be buyers.

Something clearly went wrong, and I'm betting it was a combination of factors. Apple probably grossly underestimated demand, as they heard the early buzz about the headphone jack omission, this was not a redesign year, and blogs had reacted harshly to the rumors. Once released, Apple may have been caught off guard by the phone's very positive reception. People welcomed the internal changes more than they usually do. Moreover, we know from anecdotal evidence that a much larger percentage of people are choosing the Plus model this time around. That change was likely not predicted. In addition, it was well-known prior to launch that Samsung had released its most competitive lineup ever. What no one at Apple could have known was that disaster was about to strike Samsung, and it was precisely the type of disaster that drives sales elsewhere. Finally, Apple may have experienced some early production issues. Stories about the difficulty in producing acceptable Jet Black phones abound, and it's possible that there are other issues as well. This sort of thing happens sometimes -- companies become aware of issues in production that simply weren't evident in pre-production. This can require resourcing a component, changing a production technique (including retrofitting production machinery), or even a slight redesign. It's also possible that one of Apple's suppliers experienced a delay of their own, and Apple may not be able to immediately obtain a replacement part in sufficient quantity or quality.

Bottom line is that a million things have to work right for production to be adequate. One or more of those things is not working right now.

 

[VSLRA]

Hello all,
question to all the people around the word, is iP7+ still so unavailable article as here in Czech Republic? I placed pre-order at Apple Premium Reseller for my iP7+ 128Gb matte black, 8.9. already and we was in 2nd wave, that means sale started 23.9. Until now I do not have it... I´m asking at the seller regularly once a week but nothing... no pcs available...

 

[lympero]

The problem is that they have plenty of available iPhone 7 units but none 7+ (at least here in Greece). That's poor planning and nothing more

 

[Thor_1]

The problem is that they have plenty of available iPhone 7 units but none 7+ (at least here in Greece). That's poor planning and nothing more

No it's supply and demand. As a few others above have written, all the "experts" said demand would be low, and based on research I bet Apple thought maybe the same thing (no headphone jack, same case etc) and made fewer phones.

Well fast forward and several carriers did free phones with trade-in and demand shot up. So now supply is low.

Not a big deal. Just wait. My phones ship date is late November into December. It's not life altering.

 

[x34]

It's not life altering.

but it sucks. kinda hard. i feel for you with my 7 plus in hand. good god!