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Lack of Silver and Gold stock unacceptable
- Thread starter marddin
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That was my thinking and the reason why I drove 50 miles to an Apple Store only to discover that they only had less than 7 of the models I wanted. So, the lesson I learned is to stick with online ordering
That's rude. Why would a company announce a new color and have the ratio be like 1 to 100? Our biggest Apple store barely had any yet were able to sell space gray all day long.
Why? Because that's how manufacturing and product launches work. There are limits and Apple has to do what they have to do to be as profitable and efficient as possible. It's a balancing act and somewhere there are hard choices and sacrifices. The issue here is everyone assumes they know better, but not one of you is running a multi-billion dollar company with a product as in demand as an iPhone.
How is it odd? You act as if this is the only product ever created with a limited supply.
I take it you've never waited in line at Shake Shack?
How is it odd? You act as if this is the only product ever created with a limited supply.
I take it you've never waited in line at Shake Shack?
Comparing food to a long term investment is odd too.
Lol, "unacceptable." How is that? You have to accept they don't have stock.
Maybe the OP was the person in this arstechnica article:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/0...out-a-gold-one-tales-from-the-iphone-5s-line/
Maybe the OP was the person in this arstechnica article:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/0...out-a-gold-one-tales-from-the-iphone-5s-line/
I too am becoming pretty disappointed with it. I sold my 5 and now it looks like it could be quite a long time before I have a phone because of the limited supply. I am not willing to compromise on my color choice because of apples screw up so looks like I am in for a bit of a wait.
Apple should consider making a limited edition phone of let's say 100 units worldwide. It will cost 10 times as much and the only difference will be a glowing white Apple logo on the back of the phone.
Seriously, Microsoft pulls this kinda stuff all the time, limited special edition, costing extra.
Apple did the U2 iPod, once too. But I don't know if they charged more for it or not.
Calling a disposable electronic device to a long term investment is even more odd.
Hmmmm.....seems you're the one that screwed up, not Apple. Apple did not tell you to sell your phone and they did not promise to you that the model you wanted would be in unlimited stock on launch day.
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If you blame anyone on the shortage of gold iPhones, blame us...Apple fans, Apple bloggers, the tech sites, etc. The level of laughter and ridicule when the gold phone was leaked was through the roof.
Gold tech products are people's secret guilty pleasure; few admit to liking them, but they usually sell well. But sometimes they bomb (gold Dolce Gabbana Razr anyone?).
So maybe Apple played it safe with the gold, waiting to see the sales figures of the first batches, especially if they took the fans and pundits at face value when they all but booed the gold leaks.
Gold tech products are people's secret guilty pleasure; few admit to liking them, but they usually sell well. But sometimes they bomb (gold Dolce Gabbana Razr anyone?).
So maybe Apple played it safe with the gold, waiting to see the sales figures of the first batches, especially if they took the fans and pundits at face value when they all but booed the gold leaks.
A safer bet would be that 300 to 400 people won't be lined up in front of the Ford dealership at 8:00a.m. to buy it!
Defend apple all you want, but when their own retail stores got as few as 10 gold phones thats a screw up.
I have been called an apple apologist more times than I can count, but even I can't defend them in this ridiculous of a shortage of gold phones.
I got my call at 8Am UK time...I'm hoping that a few strings will be pulled, but I want Gold, and if that means a week or so's wait I won't die in the process... I don't do waiting in line, and although my Fiancee actually offered to go to the Cardiff store and stand in line I told her not to. It's just a little time after all.
I completely agree with you. The problem is Apple has never launched an iPhone with only 4 or 5 phones per store! Even the most avid MR member wouldn't have guessed this "grotesquely low" inventory. If anyone here honesty says they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the brick and mortar Apple Stores would only have 1 or 2 gold phones...they're lying!
What makes this an issue is Apple didn't say anything about it. They just allowed their loyal customers to camp out and stand in line for hours. I ordered mine on line, and will get it next week. However, I can only imagine the frustration at being denied what you came for after waiting sometimes days for the launch. The reason lines form up, is people have an expectation that they need to be one of the first few hundred to get what they want. But to be in the top 10 in and be denied is ridiculous. The rumors probably made people believe they needed to be within the first 75 or 80 people in line. So, they probably lined up earlier than normal....meaning they waited longer than normal...and were still told, "sorry!"
Based on what we know now, Apple should've released the Space Grey on the 20th and announced the White/Gold models coming soon! This is exactly what happened during the iPhone 4 launch. Steve J. said the black would be available in June with the white version the following month (in reality, the white version took much longer...but he did quote the following month).
The reason this should've been the case is simply to not have customers standing in line for hours needlessly. It's not a sense of entitlement...it's not a case of whining. It's a matter of decency! I'm the biggest Apple fanboy here, but I can't defend Apple when they only have 1 or 2 Gold iPhones and decided not to tell anyone about it. It's as if they were laughing as loyal customers camped out and stood in line holding their bladders for hours on end.
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How is it odd? You act as if this is the only product ever created with a limited supply.
I take it you've never waited in line at Shake Shack?
Let's say an Apple store gets 1,000 phones.
And here's the breakdown:
10 - Gold
15 - Silver
975 space grey
You don't find that even a little bit odd? Advertising 3 colors and for all intents and purposes only releasing 1?
It's a brand new color. It's a complete guessing game. Let's say, for example, that Apple decided to make 50% of the new phones gold, and the color got panned by the press. We'd have people here complaining that they made too many gold phones and not enough in the more "stylish" Space Gray and Silver.
I suspect that most people aren't wedded to a particular color. While they might have a preference, if their first choice isn't available they might go with a second choice. That said, color must play some role since Apple wouldn't be offering a larger color palette if it didn't make a difference.
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I think it was Steve Jobs complaining that the shade of white didn't exactly match what he was expecting.
People seem to forget that launches under Steve Jobs were always undersupplied. I recall a line for the iPad 2 going around the block at a sleepy suburban store. It must have been a madhouse at 5th Avenue. Steve Jobs supposedly made minor changes to the original iPhone and iPad a few days before production was supposed to begin and a few weeks before the launch.
The first launch truly in the Tim Cook era was the 3rd iPad (the 4s launched a week after Steve Jobs' death but he was still CEO a few weeks prior). That launch was the first in which Apple actually did have sufficient supply to meet demand. There were no "sellouts" and the "analysts" got worried, but that Monday Apple allayed their fears by announcing a blowout weekend.
I noticed at the stores today that there was some stock. There were constraints on size and carriers, but nonetheless, today you could walk into a store in Chicago (and I'm sure elsewhere) and walk out in 15 minutes with an iPhone 5s of some sort. Hopefully that means a big weekend.
Have either of you ever manufactured anything? Ever try to manufacture something that comes in multiple models in multiple colors? They don't all magically fly off the assembly line with every other color being grey, silver, gold. It's likely that they knew that they would never be able to launch with all the phones they needed, but they knew the demand for Space Gray would be the greatest, so that's what they manufacture first. Then they start on silver and gold, which are likely still coming off the lines now.
You'll get your phones, but stop being spoiled little kids that expect everything to go there way and get everything they want when they want. Apple is working hard to make your phones because they want your $$$.