Apple sells out of initial iPhone 5s supply in under 2 days, shipments pushed to October

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Less than two days after Apple began its worldwide rollout of the iPhone 5s, the company's Online Apple Stores in each of the 11 countries participating in the phone's launch are showing stock outs until October.

iPhone 5s Stock
German Online Apple Store.


As of late Saturday, Apple's online storefronts in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK and US all show no available inventory for all nine iPhone 5s variations, with delivery dates pushed back into October.

After the iPhone 5s launched on Friday in Australia, supply of the handset was quickly depleted at both online and brick-and-mortar Apple Stores, a trend that continued as sales of the phone rolled out around the world.

The stock outs are in line with prediction from U.S. cellular carriers, some of which signaled on Tuesday that demand may outstrip supply as inventory was said to be "grotesquely" low. AppleInsider was able to verify that a number of carrier stores, like AT&T, received only a limited number of iPhone 5s units, and no gold models.

First to go in each country was the new gold version, stock of which was rumored to be severely constrained prior to launch day. China's iPhone 5s reservation system, meant to dissuade scalpers and manage crowds, foreshadowed the high demand when it opened earlier this week.

The 64GB "Space Gray" iPhone 5s was next to sell out online in a number of countries, with multiple reports coming in saying the model swiftly sold out at physical Apple Stores in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, the UK, China and Hong Kong. Supply of the silver iPhone 5s, the only color to carry over from the iPhone 5, was last to sell out in many countries, with some still quoting delivery times of 7 to 10 days as late as this morning.

Although it took longer for the iPhone 5s to sell out compared to last year's iPhone 5, a number of factors are in play, including the simultaneous release of the cheaper iPhone 5c. Supply for the 5c is still high, with the Online Apple Store quoting ship-by times within 24 hours.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 238
    And now we can but wait, dudes. Unless we want that plastic shit.
  • Reply 2 of 238

    Didn’t sell out in 40 seconds. Apple is doomed.

  • Reply 3 of 238
    I checked them out at the apple store yesterday. I'll admit it -- I like the 5c design better than the 5s. It feels so solid.

    I'm still going with the 5s though. The new camera and fingerprint win for me.
  • Reply 4 of 238
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Our store sold the last 5S yesterday afternoon, more in two days than Galaxy S4's in two months.
  • Reply 5 of 238
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    jakeb wrote: »
    I checked them out at the apple store yesterday. I'll admit it -- I like the 5c design better than the 5s. It feels so solid.

    I'm still going with the 5s though. The new camera and fingerprint win for me.

    Once you get one in someone's hand and explain they do more than the 5 at a lower price, without compromising on memory, then people will usually go for it.
  • Reply 6 of 238

    Selling out of the 5s is good, but it looks like inventory was very low.  I am pretty confident Apple made a huge amount of 5c so if they were to run out it would be big.  

     

    I dont think there is any way to guess how many they sold over the weekend, it could below or above last year number of 5 millions.  There is only one thing I am sure of, the stock will move big on monday and this is why I played both sides for that news. I did an option straddle at 2 different expiration dates. The short side is on the weekly and the long side is in April 2014.

     

    I have been lucky in the past months. Bought at $420, sold all at $502 at iphone 5s launch.  Bought at $470 and $455 and sold last week at $475. My play for next week is an option straddle and I plan to ride the stock for the ipads later.

  • Reply 7 of 238
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    herbapou wrote: »
    Selling out of the 5s is good, but it looks like inventory was very low.  I am pretty confident Apple made a huge amount of 5c so if they were to run out it would be big.  

    I dont think there is any way to guess how many they sold over the weekend, it could below or above last year number of 5 millions.  There is only one thing I am sure of, the stock will move big on monday and this is why I played both sides for that news. I did an option straddle.

    We had a lot more 5S than we had 5's at launch.

    Biggest sale days ever.
  • Reply 8 of 238
    Does this mean that my order for two Space Grey 32gb models that I made yesterday at 12:15am will be on hold until October? I never received a ship date via email.
  • Reply 9 of 238
    herbapou wrote: »
    Selling out of the 5s is good, but it looks like inventory was very low.  I am pretty confident Apple made a huge amount of 5c so if they were to run out it would be big.  

    I dont think there is any way to guess how many they sold over the weekend, it could below or above last year number of 5 millions.  There is only one thing I am sure of, the stock will move big on monday and this is why I played both sides for that news. I did an option straddle at 2 different expiration dates. The short side is on the weekly and the long side is in April 2014.

    I have been lucky in the past months. Bought at $420, sold all at $502 at iphone 5 launch.  Bought at $470 and $455 and sold last week at $475. My play for next week is an option straddle and I plan to ride the stock for the ipads later.

    Isn't it this type of investment behavior that results in me having to read endless posts about stock manipulation?
  • Reply 10 of 238
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    tony1 wrote: »
    Does this mean that my order for two Space Grey 32gb models that I made yesterday at 12:15am will be on hold until October? I never received a ship date via email.
    Yes, you'll get them just after my Space Grey 32gb models which I ordered just before you. I was told 4 weeks. Sorry.
  • Reply 11 of 238
    If 7 million iPhones aren't sold over the weekend, Apple shareholders are going to get totally reamed. Wall Street's expectations of Apple are impossible to beat. Everything that Apple does is going to be tossed aside based on overall declining market share when compared to all of Android market share. The hedge fund managers are total jackasses because all they see is Android running away with market share in China and India. It's just incredible how narrow-minded those big investors are. Apple is going to make a fortune over the Christmas holidays but shareholders aren't going to get a thing out of it as Apple's share price continues to get beat up.
  • Reply 12 of 238
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post





    Yes, you'll get them just after my Space Grey 32gb models which I ordered just before you. I was told 4 weeks. Sorry.

     

    I guess I should feel pretty lucky then... ordering at 12:03 am made all the difference.  My card was charged earlier this afternoon and my order status just updated...

     


     

  • Reply 13 of 238
    Apple had stock that Wall Street didn't short? Amazing.
  • Reply 14 of 238
    i ordered two 5s within the first few minutes of the online store reopening friday. then friday about noon i was driving by an apple store and decided to just check for the heck of it. within an hour i was walking out with two unlocked gray 5s. great luck for me ... i got exactly what i wanted and at least a week earlier than i had planned.

    love this device. the fingerprint sensor is incredibly useful. click the home button once to light it up, then just leave your finger there for it to read the print and unlock. great for when i'm driving (i kid). the camera is awesome. can't wait to see what developers do with the 64-bit processor. and, get this, it *makes calls*. loving ios 7, audio facetime, et cetera.

    edit: as philboogie points out ... i should have mentioned in the original post that i canceled my online order right after walking out the door with the new phones, freeing up a couple more devices for online orders.
  • Reply 15 of 238
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post



    If 7 million iPhones aren't sold over the weekend, Apple shareholders are going to get totally reamed. Wall Street's expectations of Apple are impossible to beat. Everything that Apple does is going to be tossed aside based on overall declining market share when compared to all of Android market share. The hedge fund managers are total jackasses because all they see is Android running away with market share in China and India. It's just incredible how narrow-minded those big investors are. Apple is going to make a fortune over the Christmas holidays but shareholders aren't going to get a thing out of it as Apple's share price continues to get beat up.

     

    7 million would be the number... considering that China was included in the launch this time. That would equal last year's launch of the 5.

     

    It would signal no growth over last year... but at least it wouldn't signal negative growth.

  • Reply 16 of 238
    alfiejralfiejr Posts: 1,524member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post

     

     

    7 million would be the number... considering that China was included in the launch this time. That would equal last year's launch of the 5.

     

    It would signal no growth over last year... but at least it wouldn't signal negative growth.


     

    no, 7 million would be 40% growth over last year. i know what you mean - you mean apples to apples due to sub-markets release timing. but if Apple makes a deal with China Mobile soon, as expected, that throws last year out completely as any basis for such comparison.

     


    more is more.
  • Reply 17 of 238
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TRC2k13 View Post

     

     

    I guess I should feel pretty lucky then... ordering at 12:03 am made all the difference.  My card was charged earlier this afternoon and my order status just updated...

     


     



     

    If you look, it shows your dock has shipped, not your phone. I'm in the same boat, as my order shows my cases shipped and will arrive on Monday, but phone itself still shows Preparing for Shipment like yours, with estimated delivery between 9/27-10/01.

     

    Also, for those looking to track their orders as soon as possible, mine shipped via FedEx, not UPS, so it appears Apple is once again using both carriers, and the reference number was the phone number I used as Shipping/Billing info, not the cell phone number as it has been in the past.

  • Reply 18 of 238
    alfiejralfiejr Posts: 1,524member

    so when are the pundits and analysts going to realize Touch ID is a genuine "killer feature" that has just iced the sales of high-end Android phones?

     

    Monday?

  • Reply 19 of 238
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Alfiejr View Post

     

     

    no, 7 million would be 40% growth over last year. i know what you mean - you mean apples to apples due to sub-markets release timing. but if Apple makes a deal with China Mobile soon, as expected, that throws last year out completely as any basis for such comparison.

     


    more is more.


     

    That doesn't fly. You have to include all totals, including when the 5 was released in China. As much as you'd like the markets to ignore facts, they won't.

     


    The main word in your statement about China Mobile is "if".
  • Reply 20 of 238
    I stood in line yesterday and bought my 5S directly from my apple store. Best smartphone I've ever owned.

    Today there were still lines of people waiting for 5S.

    Here are my quick observations:

    There was very little interest in the 5C except from children.

    The 5C looked and felt like plastic. Not my cup of tea and that was a major negative point from other adults I talked to at the store.

    Most 5C that actually sold (and even the Apple employees admitted it was a slow seller at the store) were parents buying for kids. Some parents opted to buy their kids 5S instead though.

    Anyway all that to say. The 5S is an amazing smartphone the most innovative small device I've ever used. Use touch ID a few times and you'll feel the magic I'm talking about. But the 5C on the other hand. Still a head scratcher in my book.

    It's not helping Apple's image. It doesn't look that great. And it's not selling well. It may be selling better than last years 4S but that's not saying much IMO.
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