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Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

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Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#111
post #110
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be so sure. The 4S sold over four million units on its opening weekend, which is pretty close to the 5's five million, but way more than the 4's 1.7 million. Personally, I'm deliberately on the "S" upgrade cycle. I started off with a 3GS, then got a 4S, and now have a 5S. I figure I'll let other people deal with the bleeding edge, and I can get the model with all the refinements afterwards. I'd be willing…

I think it's also a good idea to wait a month or so after release. What's the rush? Let the first production runs go through and work out the kinks. So far I have heard some reports of screen issues on some 5s models. With a new and unusual part like the fingerprint sensor I'd rather wait a bit.

Personally, my rush was that I needed a device with an A7 in it for testing purposes. If it wasn't for that, I'd be right there with you and would have just ordered online and waited.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#112
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, excuse me, don't you realize that Android has been installed on approximately 8 million times the number of devices that iOS has been installed on? Think of how many feature phones, Arduinos, and toasters have all of the same capabilities Apple's iterative, piddly phone offering. Probably more features, now that I think about it, since, like, I don't have to jailbreak my toaster to get all of the features I want.

Mocking Android fanboys in a forum overwhelmingly dominated by Apple adulation? I hate to use a Reddit/4chan meme, but so brave ...

Ah, that must be why his comment is gray and yours is black then.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#113
post #43

I was in NY for vacation during the opening Friday and decided to head into a queue and line up for the 5s, suspecting that it may sell out quickly while also leveraging the pricing difference between Europe and USA. This was the first time that I lined up for any Apple launch (execept for the yearly WWDC waiting line of course), and it was overall a fun experience, not only because my girlfriend joined me there and…

The 5S is my first cell phone. I love being able to make calls from outside of my house and quickly and easily write "text" messages to my friends. I use to have to wait until I was at work or at home to make a phone call, but now I can do it from anywhere! I also love these app things, there is one for everything. I also can't believe I can just connect to the internet from anywhere, and there are not even any tubes…

You intend this to be ironic, but a proper perspective would be that:

1) 10 years ago this was way bulkier, far less convenient and more often than not without an intertube connection,

2) 20 years ago this was absolute bare-bones and only for upper middle class and rich people,

3) 30 years ago it was science fiction.

Now, a 20-something would of course take all this for granted. But technology will have some surprises for him down the road too, and he'll learn to put things in perspective when 2030 tech is 100 times more awesome than today's.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#114
post #93
post #84

So I had a few separate experiences with this over the weekend: 1) A friend stood in line for a few hours, got to the front, found out they didn't have the color he wanted and left. 2) A colleague in another company got one and she immediately remarked, "it looks just like Android!". 3) A neighbor returned theirs because they couldn't read all the low contrast stuff on the tiny screen. 4) Another neighbor has kept th…

Wow... were there really that many people out buying iPhones this weekend? How does Apple keep doing that?

What's more interesting is why do people do that just with Apple phones?

Samsung seems to get their phones out and about without the same kind of theater and is matching Apple sale for sale these days.

It's like people waiting in line to see the latest Star Wars film, but a crappy movie about Blue Forest Indians riding Dragons outsells it.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#115
post #59

We need a country breakdown considering this launch included China (unlike previous launches). That said, I'm assuming 30-40% in China and the rest elsewhere still puts it as a great launch.

Including China sales the increase was 29% (7m -> 9m).

33% China would be 50% increase in China (2m -> 3m) and up 20% (5m-6m) elsewhere.

40% China would be a near doubling in China (2->3.6), and up 8% (5m->5.4m) elsewhere

For reference, the smartphone market is growing at about 50% a year, in Q2 Apple's sales numbers rose 20% year-on-year and their share dropped over 3 percentage points year-on-year (16.6% -> 13.1%).

(These launch numbers assume that no-one bought a price-dropped 4S on the launch weekend last year)

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#117
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's also a good idea to wait a month or so after release. What's the rush? Let the first production runs go through and work out the kinks. So far I have heard some reports of screen issues on some 5s models. With a new and unusual part like the fingerprint sensor I'd rather wait a bit.

Personally, my rush was that I needed a device with an A7 in it for testing purposes. If it wasn't for that, I'd be right there with you and would have just ordered online and waited.

That makes sense. I'm hoping the 64 bit simulator is good enough for now.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you're missing an important point: If you own your phone you can get much cheaper 'SIM only' deals with the mobile carriers, meaning that over your 1-2 year contract, you'll pay far less. Getting a new phone as part of a 'subsidised' contract is effectively borrowing money to buy a phone. Your loan repayments are the monthly fee. If you have the cash, buying the phone up-front is almost always cheaper.

Not the biggest U.S. mobile carriers. AT&T and Verizon have awful BYOD plans, as I understand it. I'd be thrilled to find out I could do better than my grandfathered AT&T unlimited plan (two phones, 5GB/each before throttled, $120/mo.), but keep their network.

Isn't this what ting does? Not in the US so never used it, website says it is on the "Sprint" network so I guess that means coverage is patchy?

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#119
post #45

> Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend, Topping 5M For iPhone 5 Last Year Not a fair comparison, given that 5S + 5C is two models. It would be fairer to compare it to the sales of the 5 + 4S last year - which were probably not 9 million, but certainly more than 5 million.

As mentioned on the other thread, pointing to the official announcement, the iPhone 5 launched in China on a different date, so it had 2 million sales on its launch there. So to get the real comparison you need to add first weekend sales of the 4S in standard launch countries and China to that 7 million figure.

That makes the 9 million figure a whole lot less impressive. From 7+ million to 9 million... but it's not that unthinkable that there could have been 2 million iPhone 4S's sold when the iPhone 5 launched, so that it could even be a step down from the previous year.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 5s And iPhone 5c Sell 9M Units Over Opening Weekend

#120
post #24

9 million sold. 47 were available in gold.

Realistically, I'd estimate somewhere in the ballpark of 4,000, which is only slightly less absurd than your joke. From what I've heard, Apple stores typically only had ten or so gold units each available on launch day. That's what it was at the store where I was, and I've heard the same from others. Multiply that by the 413 Apple stores worldwide and... that's not very many. Pretty crazy.

Other retail stores (Best Buy, Target, Wal-mart, cell phone stores, etc) got at least some shipments over the weekend, did they not? Perhaps some golds were included in those.
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