Apple's iPhone 5 praised as 'a Rolex among a sea of Timexes'

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The quality and build of the iPhone 5 will be enough to impress consumers in a market dominated by cheaply made smartphones, according to one analyst.

Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said while the iPhone 5 is like a Rolex, many competing phones "feel more like cheaper Timex-brand watches. He questioned why someone would buy a Timex when they can have a Rolex for the same price.

Munster believes Apple will sell anywhere from 6 million to 10 million of the iPhone 5 in the September quarter, which concludes just over a week after the iPhone 5 goes on sale in 9 countries, including the U.S. He thinks total iPhone sales will hit 49 million in Apple's December quarter.

The analyst dismissed a sense of mixed opinions in what he referred to as the tech "media bubble." Having spent time with the iPhone 5 himself, he believes customers will be pleasantly surprised.

iPhone 5


In particular, he said the feel and build of the iPhone 5 is beyond that of any previous iPhone. He also feels the weight difference between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S is "meaningful," and many consumers will immediately notice the difference.

Piper Jaffray also tracked online consumer sentiment surrounding the iPhone 5 through a firm called Investing Analytics. It showed that Twitter posts about the iPhone 5 were up 460 percent year over year compared to the day Apple announced the iPhone 4S.

In addition, blog posts about the iPhone 5 were also up 100 percent year over year compared to the iPhone 4S unveiling a year ago.

"Most importantly, we believe the sentiment around iPhone 5 was significantly better than that of the iPhone 4S," Munster wrote on Friday. "Based on the same study by Investing Analytics, we believe that 73% of tweets about the iPhone 5 during launch day were positive compared to 51% for the iPhone 4S launch. We believe this is to be expected given the phone is redesigned while the iPhone 4S was not."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 191
    Great quote! In light of the number of knock-off phones on the market, the choice is very appropriate.
  • Reply 2 of 191
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Timex?

    I would have thought Casio or G-shock.
  • Reply 3 of 191
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    But it's just a stretched 4S with an ugly two toned back. If Steve were alive he would have thrown this in the rubbish bin at first sight. /s
  • Reply 4 of 191
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    But it's just a stretched 4S with an ugly two toned back. If Steve were alive he would have thrown this in the rubbish bin at first sight. /s


     


    I think "disappointment" is the current mot du jour.

  • Reply 5 of 191
    They could have advertised it as "four to five times a 1980 60M$ Cray-1, in your hand"
  • Reply 6 of 191
    hill60 wrote: »
    Timex?
    I would have thought Casio or G-shock.

    And there are many time pieces built better than a Rolex.
  • Reply 7 of 191
    Not a good analogy in my opinion. There are so many great watches out there, but smartphones, not so much... And if we are talking about Swiss watches, there are plenty of watches in that price and quality category that I would choose over a Rolex.
  • Reply 8 of 191

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by chadmatic View Post



    Not a good analogy in my opinion. There are so many great watches out there, but smartphones, not so much... And if we are talking about Swiss watches, there are plenty of watches in that price and quality category that I would choose over a Rolex.


    I think it's a great analogy.


     


    There's iPhone. And then there's everything else. He nailed it.

  • Reply 9 of 191
    galbigalbi Posts: 968member


    So called "analyst"?


     


    How about a fanboy in disguise using emotional language to generate views and publicity?

     

  • Reply 10 of 191
    postulant wrote: »
    I think it's a great analogy.

    There's iPhone. And then there's everything else. He nailed it.

    I agree that iPhone is in a class of it's own, but Rolex is not, not even close!
  • Reply 11 of 191
    Munster is like Jim Cramer, neither of them knows much about tech, and only tries to drive up the price of what ever stock that they are getting a kickback from.
  • Reply 12 of 191
    postulant wrote: »
    I think it's a great analogy.

    There's iPhone. And then there's everything else. He nailed it.

    Not if you know about time pieces. Everyone knows Rolex because they advertise heavily but there are plenty of better built watches and some are even less expensive than a Rolex.
  • Reply 13 of 191
    swssws Posts: 44member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    But it's just a stretched 4S with an ugly two toned back. If Steve were alive he would have thrown this in the rubbish bin at first sight. /s


     


    Yep. That's why it's selling faster than any other phone. Ever.

  • Reply 14 of 191


    It doesn't matter if the merits of Rolex and Timex aren't up to the same standards as iPhone and everyone else. What matters is that you understand the point he's trying to make and everyone does.

  • Reply 15 of 191
    chadmatic wrote: »
    Not a good analogy in my opinion. There are so many great watches out there, but smartphones, not so much... And if we are talking about Swiss watches, there are plenty of watches in that price and quality category that I would choose over a Rolex.

    So you think the quote would be better if Munster researched what he thought was the very best watch maker, bar none, and used some obscure name that no one had heard of? How does using unrecognizable names that need to be researched by all buy the very few and explained to nearly everyone make a quote better?


    "Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said while the iPhone 5 is like an IWC, many competing phones "feel more like cheaper Huangpu-brand watches."
  • Reply 16 of 191
    swssws Posts: 44member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    Not if you know about time pieces. Everyone knows Rolex because they advertise heavily but there are plenty of better built watches and some are even less expensive than a Rolex.


     No smartphone has ever been released that was built as well as an iPhone.

  • Reply 17 of 191
    you guys who criticize his Rolex analogy are missing the point so badly I am amazed at you stupidity. Really its an analogy based on the fact that a rolex is a standard. Yes of course there are better watches out there but that is not the point Stop being so damned anal jeez, Can't you do any better than this, you are really slipping ROFL
  • Reply 18 of 191
    sws wrote: »
     No smartphone has ever been released that was built as well as an iPhone.

    But there are watches built better than a Rolex.
  • Reply 19 of 191
    What's a watch?
  • Reply 20 of 191
    paul94544 wrote: »
    you guys who criticize his Rolex analogy are missing the point so badly I am amazed at you stupidity. Really its an analogy based on the fact that a rolex is a standard. Yes of course there are better watches out there but that is not the point Stop being so damned anal jeez, Can't you do any better than this, you are really slipping ROFL

    Had he said Mercedes-Benz instead of Rolex all the car enthusiasts would've been arguing the same point. I understand why he used Rolex because it'll be more understood by the general public but for us horologists it's a joke.
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