Seems like the apple store inventory is shrinking

[bfh123]

I've been following the inventory updates on the seaturtle site and it seems like inventories have become even more tight 3 weeks into the launch.

Last week I could have walked into several apple stores and bought a 6 with a choice of color, now the 6s are almost as tight as the pluses, especially with AT&T. I'd expect demand to still far exceed supply at this point, but it just seems interesting.

 

[Tyler23]

I've been following the inventory updates on the seaturtle site and it seems like inventories have become even more tight 3 weeks into the launch.

Last week I could have walked into several apple stores and bought a 6 with a choice of color, now the 6s are almost as tight as the pluses, especially with AT&T. I'd expect demand to still far exceed supply at this point, but it just seems interesting.

Don't forget the iPhone just went on sale in China. That will tighten up supply quite a bit as well.

 

[shr631]

Agree.. I was able to switch units pretty easily last two weeks. Since then stock seems to have only dwindled with no replenishment. Perhaps in an ironic twist, the 9/19 scalpers softened demand overseas so much that Apple will redirect surplus 10/17 units back to N America!!

 

[syclick]

Yeah, iPhone 6 availability has been a wasteland this past week.

 

[willdude]

It's because I just got back from overseas this week and finally had an opportunity to buy a 6. So, sorry, everyone, it's apparently my fault.

 

[packgolfdude]

It's been out for 3 weeks and inventories are worse not better. I am sure they deflecting everything they can to China and India for next week. It's going to be mid-November for there is consistent stock. I am not sure if this on purpose by Apple but if it's not it's really poor way to run a business.

 

[dopeman]

I've been following the inventory updates on the seaturtle site and it seems like inventories have become even more tight 3 weeks into the launch.

Last week I could have walked into several apple stores and bought a 6 with a choice of color, now the 6s are almost as tight as the pluses, especially with AT&T. I'd expect demand to still far exceed supply at this point, but it just seems interesting.

Do you think this would be a turnoff for USA consumers?

 

[itsjustmeee]

Same where I live. There were plenty off and on all last week and nothing at all this week. I check the inventory every night to see what's available and there hasn't been one iphone 6 or plus in any option for ATT.

 

[dvdchance]

Same with me here in Central NJ.

I was lucky and got a gold 64gb 6 two weeks ago, which was what I wanted at the time. Have been debating exchanging for a 128gb.

Well I finally decide yes I want a 128, they have none anywhere around me at all. Oh well.

 

[deeddawg]

it's really poor way to run a business.

Just curious -- How would you have done things differently?

 

[superlawyer15]

Just curious -- How would you have done things differently?

...how about building more and having a sizable lot before they started selling them.

..would it kill apple to have made 20 million or so units prior to the September announcement

its not like they run the risk of making too many and not selling them

 

[packgolfdude]

...how about building more and having a sizable lot before they started selling them.

..would it kill apple to have made 20 million or so units prior to the September announcement

its not like they run the risk of making too many and not selling them

And clearly they made a mistake in underestimating how many 6+ people would buy. They have to know the Apple nut jobs out there that are going to purchase the biggest most expensive iPhone Apple sells.

 

[Sanlitun]

It certainly seems much worse now. I had a 6+ but had to return it and am now without an IPhone as there is simply no 64GB stock anywhere.

I think as well lot of people are also now much more aware of how the reservation and stock checking systems work so there is little benefit from knowing about those sites now.

 

[JonMPLS]

I remember the same with the 5S last year. It was the middle of November before they had consistent stock in the stores. Wonder if the 6 will be worse?

 

[superlawyer15]

And clearly they made a mistake in underestimating how many 6+ people would buy. They have to know the Apple nut jobs out there that are going to purchase the biggest most expensive iPhone Apple sells.

I had the OG iphone through the iphone 4 ..have been w/ android ever since
..only reason I'm coming back to apple is because of the 5.5 inch screen

...Cook even mentioned during the keynote how he thought the larger screen would draw people over from android ...well ...its not going to bring anyone over if they can't buy the device

 

[Retired Cat]

I remember the same with the 5S last year. It was the middle of November before they had consistent stock in the stores. Wonder if the 6 will be worse?

I think it may be worse this year, because Apple redesigned the exterior of iPhone and added a new large form factor. The excitement and hype are big this year, and perhaps justified given the much nicer looking screens.

Apple also may not know the correct product mix between the 4.7 and 5.5 to satisfy demand for each.

 

[Sandy Santra]

It's very frustrating. I have a 4S, it's very slow, and I could shave a half-hour off each day just with using the fingerprint reader for passwords alone. I really, really NEED to get a 6 or 6+.

Every day I check almost all the models for inventory levels. NOTHING within 50 miles of where I live.

And guess what...I'm in NYC, which is 8 million; and the tri-state, the area around me, is 19 million.

So that's 19 million people, with pretty much not a single iPhone available for new buyers in any stores servicing the area.

The world knows the world likes bread—pretty much any grocery store anywhere in the U.S. has bread. So why can't Apple, arguably one of the top five consumer companies in the U.S.—if not #1—with their huge monetary assets, scale this up properly?

I vaguely remember when I bought my 4S I had a similar problem. I had to make friends with staff in 5 Manhattan stores, find out delivery schedules, and show up at an insanely inconvenient hour in order to score one.

Are we really at the point in the U.S. where you have to "have a friend" if you want a certain product?

 

[deeddawg]

...how about building more and having a sizable lot before they started selling them. ..would it kill apple to have made 20 million or so units prior to the September announcement

OMG, that's so simple an idea.... If *only* someone at Apple had thought of it beforehand... Quick, get your resume to Tim Cook. He clearly need to hire you on before one of the competitors gets ahold of your supply chain brilliance...

Just curious - how much real world experience do you have with supply chain or production management?

 

[jvolkman]

Maybe they're draining inventory while they silently retool production to mitigate the bend issue.

 

[Souskei]

I can't find any AT&T 128 Grey ip6 anywhere here in SoCal either..

I had a perfect iPhone 6 that I exchanged for a plus.. Then returned the plus in hopes for another iPhone 6.. No luck.. Now I just gotta wait till someone gets one..

Oh well..

 

[deeddawg]

The world knows the world likes bread—pretty much any grocery store anywhere in the U.S. has bread. So why can't Apple, arguably one of the top five consumer companies in the U.S.—if not #1—with their huge monetary assets, scale this up properly?

It can be tough to explain simply if one isn't already experienced in market demand changes and supply chain / production management. I'll give it a quick shot though...

Very high level: bread makers are at a steady state demand, roughly. They know week to week what demand will be, and that demand is fairly flat, so it's easy to scale to that demand.

With a new iphone there's a HUGE demand in the very beginning of availability. FAR more than the steady state demand three months down the line. Production lines are EXPENSIVE to build and they take a pretty significant lead time usually. So do you build significant extra capacity, we're talking probably 5x or more, hire and train additional thousands of workers just to then let tens or hundreds of millions of $$ of tooling sit idle and lay off those thousands of workers after a month and a half? Those costs will raise the cost of the product noticeable. Or do you build capacity to your best estimate of ongoing demand and do your best to start production as early as possible to stockpile what you can.

Why not just start producing it months ahead of time? Two factors; one is timeframe of when the device and software are ready. I imagine the 12 month cycle is already very tight considering the iOS8 issues we've seen. But there's also the matter where you're typically phasing out production of the prior model so you can build the new one. Do you stop producing 5S's and 5C's in June and have no stock to sell until the new model comes out in September?

As to store availability -- why not just order online and wait? Seems those keep flowing just fine. If you instead decide to compete with millions of others seeking in-store stock you're likely to be disappointed and fustrated.

 

[Sandy Santra]

It can be tough to explain simply if one isn't already experienced in market demand changes and supply chain / production management. I'll give it a quick shot though...

As to store availability -- why not just order online and wait? Seems those keep flowing just fine. If you instead decide to compete with millions of others seeking in-store stock you're likely to be disappointed and fustrated.

Thanks for schooling me on production management—very interesting and helpful! I think I get it now.

Why don't I order online and wait anywhere from 7 days to 21 days for a store pickup? Because I'm watching all the misery everyone is going through, I'm seeing queues at every single NYC Apple Store every morning (usually 40 to 100 ppl), I'm aware that it's not just a time delay that's going to affect me, it's every single part of the buying process is going to be screwed up, slow, trying, and difficult.

I can't do home delivery because in my part of Brooklyn, guaranteed it will "fall off the truck" or disappear in some other fashion, and then I'm suddenly out $500 with no recourse; that's why: store pickup is mandatory for me.

 

[Crichton333]

Didnt some factory in China burn down before the release and they went ahead with it anyway knowing there would be less units available. It was in the news.

 

[Retired Cat]

It's very frustrating. I have a 4S, it's very slow, and I could shave a half-hour off each day just with using the fingerprint reader for passwords alone. I really, really NEED to get a 6 or 6+.



Every day I check almost all the models for inventory levels. NOTHING within 50 miles of where I live.



And guess what...I'm in NYC, which is 8 million; and the tri-state, the area around me, is 19 million.

Can you borrow a 5 or 5S so that you at least have something workable while you wait for inventory to recover?

 

[IndianBird]

Thanks for schooling me on production management—very interesting and helpful! I think I get it now.

Why don't I order online and wait anywhere from 7 days to 21 days for a store pickup? Because I'm watching all the misery everyone is going through, I'm seeing queues at every single NYC Apple Store every morning (usually 40 to 100 ppl), I'm aware that it's not just a time delay that's going to affect me, it's every single part of the buying process is going to be screwed up, slow, trying, and difficult.

I can't do home delivery because in my part of Brooklyn, guaranteed it will "fall off the truck" or disappear in some other fashion, and then I'm suddenly out $500 with no recourse; that's why: store pickup is mandatory for me.

Sounds like you should move on to a more accessible phone as this one appears to have ruined your life.