iPhone XR Lack of Lines...

[coachingguy]

So, many have been basing their assumptions on the lack of lines as iPhones not being upgraded... I stopped into my local ATT store to trade in my wife's and mine old iPhones 8+, after getting the Xr's yesterday FedEx. A former student of mine is the manager there... I asked him how many people showed up Friday for the Xr. "A few" was his answer. But then he said over the last 12-18 months fewer and fewer people are buying form the stores. That online has become the huge driver for buying a cell phone, regardless if it's an iPhone or Droid... Really, the main people who come in are transferring from Verizon or some other carrier, older people who are not comfortable ordering online...

While I was there, there were 3 other employees helping customers... All 3 were working with either of the above, older or transferring from another carrier.

Times are changing, I wonder if this move to online ordering will have an impact on the number of ATT, Verizon and other carrier stores...

YMMV, but I thought it interesting...

Coachingguy

BTW: As good as the 8+ was, Im terribly impressed with the the Xr...

 

[SHKLMRE]

There’s a few things to take into account here:

-Apple’s online preorder process has gotten so much better over the past year. My first successful online preorder was for the X, previous years i had so much trouble i always had to line up to guarantee the phone on day 1
- just because people don’t upgrade on the first day the phone is released, it doesn’t mean they’re not upgrading. The holiday season is about to begin and that’s always apples biggest quarter.


Also, judging from my own social media circles, I’ve seen countless people buying the XR... more so than I ever thought.

 

[C DM]

So, many have been basing their assumptions on the lack of lines as iPhones not being upgraded... I stopped into my local ATT store to trade in my wife's and mine old iPhones 8+, after getting the Xr's yesterday FedEx. A former student of mine is the manager there... I asked him how many people showed up Friday for the Xr. "A few" was his answer. But then he said over the last 12-18 months fewer and fewer people are buying form the stores. That online has become the huge driver for buying a cell phone, regardless if it's an iPhone or Droid... Really, the main people who come in are transferring from Verizon or some other carrier, older people who are not comfortable ordering online...

While I was there, there were 3 other employees helping customers... All 3 were working with either of the above, older or transferring from another carrier.

Times are changing, I wonder if this move to online ordering will have an impact on the number of ATT, Verizon and other carrier stores...

YMMV, but I thought it interesting...

Coachingguy

BTW: As good as the 8+ was, Im terribly impressed with the the Xr...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/nor-cal-launch-no-one-in-line.2149973/

 

[doboy]

I was at the Apple store today and saw not many ppl playing or paying attention to the XR phones. This store is bit small and not as crowded, but lack of interest was evident. XS had the same online ordering, but there were quite a bit at the Apple store playing and buying the phone.

 

[44267547]

For one, the XR has not had much marketing, so I’m not sure how many consumers are even aware this device exist yet, but they will when the time for upgrading comes about.

Secondly, the most obvious Being online ordering is more convenient and simplistic right to the door. Consumers can generally visit any third-party retailer to handle the XR and then order when they want to.