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Apple announces iPhone 5 sales top 5 million in first weekend - Page 3

post #81 of 103
9/24/12 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

I put it in quotes and italicized it. I had hoped that would make my intention obvious.

I kinda figured that but wanted to be sure.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
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"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
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post #82 of 103
9/24/12 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribalogical View Post

300 physical stores setup for the "stack and quick-swipe" parade… I've seen how they manage the big releases. It's pretty efficient. Easily a thousand transactions an hour, if not more than that.

I don't see 5 million being a problem, even if they physically had the stock. But this is a combination of physical locations, online sales, reseller sales, etc. I'm not sure if the 5 million number includes the "pre-orders" we saw previously (2 million in the first 24 hours? And one assumes much more while running up to launch), but I'm going to assume it doesn't...

 
I think they could have counted a few million more sold if they had the stock. There is a 3-4 week waiting period for ALL models currently. That 3-week gap in itself represents at least a few million units sold but not yet shipped (and so not yet counted as sold by Apple). You can bet if it was Samsung, or Amazon or Motorola, they'd be counting the outstanding "waiting for stock" orders too.

So, yes, perhaps the launch weekend sales of 7 or 8 million DID happen, they're just not counted yet as they couldn't deliver them right away.

Again I wonder about the original pre-orders, and if they're counted into the "launch weekend total". I'd love to know a first weekend number including pre-orders.

There is no possible way a thousand transactions an hour. I've been to a number of these things, and even the big stores in NYC don't get to that number.
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post #83 of 103
9/24/12 at 10:20am
Received my 32gb white iPhone 5 and it is truly the most beautiful phone I have ever seen...Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I loved my 4s, but am just blown away by the 5! The screen looks huge compared to the 4s, but still fits nicely in my hand. It's also much faster than my 4s and I don't have a problem with Maps (but I don't live out in the boonies either).

My only problem is now I've got to find another case that I like for it...

Absolutely LOVE this phone!!
Here now.
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Here now.
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post #84 of 103
9/24/12 at 10:21am
Here's an article with Brian White explaining why he thinks the numbers weren't what he thought, though he was closer than most others. Same reason I and a few others here think might be a reason.

http://www.businessinsider.com/mega-bull-brian-white-heres-why-i-think-apple-whiffed-on-iphone-5-sales-2012-9
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post #85 of 103
9/24/12 at 10:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark View Post


don't forget
--Chinese "slave" labor (2 MM)

--Jobs would be disappointed (1.5 MM)

Well that totals 5.5 million between you guys. Subtracting that from the 5 million plus leaves us with a negative number.
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post #86 of 103
9/24/12 at 10:31am
Originally Posted by melgross View Post
Well that totals 5.5 million between you guys. Subtracting that from the 5 million plus leaves us with a negative number.

 

"Only Apple could disappoint people so much that they actually stole iPhones from them."

PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #87 of 103
9/24/12 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross View Post

Well that totals 5.5 million between you guys. Subtracting that from the 5 million plus leaves us with a negative number.

"Only Apple could disappoint people so much that they actually stole iPhones from them."

Of course, you know that Apple hired the thieves as a marketing ploy.

Even better, Apple books steal-throughs as sales!

/SS (Siri sarcasm from my iPad 3)
"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
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"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
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post #88 of 103
9/24/12 at 11:50am
ok people need to chill about Apple's Maps. Google's Maps v 1.0 was horrid and full of mistakes. It takes time to build a database of the whole planet. Plus Google expected to release Maps as standalone app for iPhone any week now.
Apple had me at scrolling
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Apple had me at scrolling
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post #89 of 103
9/24/12 at 11:53am

Awesome, we have a new gate!

 

Apple-only-sold-5-million-in-1-weekend-disappointment-gate!

 

I predict Apple will be out of business next month, selling my stock, SJ rolling in his grave, etc etc

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post #90 of 103
9/24/12 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post

As I understand it, Apple counts it as a sale when it is ready to ship to resellers... I don't know for sure if Apple stick and stucco stores are handled this way... but, likely, they are -- it makes sense, at least when demand far exceeds supply (as opposed to filling the channel).

For Online Apple Stores, the sale is booked (and your credit card charged) when your order is "processed for shipment".

If resellers (including  Apple stick and stucco) are handled as above -- it doesn't matter when/how resellers sell or book the sale -- it is already booked (or not) by Apple.

No Apple books sell through. That means a committed sale to the end user.

 

Three points:

 

  1. Apple books shipments to resellers when the goods are in transit (I think that means on the shipping dock, scheduled for pickup) -- and the ownership actually changes hands.   This has been discussed ad nauseam on AI threads, where someone like @GatorGuy delves into Apple's financials and quotes Apple's policy for booking sales.
  2. Normally, Sell-through is measured as "Shipments to Channel"  --  "Prior Channel Inventory"  ==  "Sell-Through"
  3. With a new product, like the iPhone 5, there is no "Prior Channel Inventory",  so "Shipments to Channel"  --  0  ==  "Sell-Through".

 

Based on experience as an Apple reseller, and much discussion here, I am quite sure that this is how Apple handles 3rd-party resellers... The thing I am not so sure about is the Apple stick and stucco stores.

"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
Reply
"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
Reply
post #91 of 103
9/24/12 at 1:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by allenbf View Post

Only with Apple would a record-breaking 5 million phones (pre-order and opening weekend!) be viewed as "disappointing" to investors.  Seriously?  Name another hardware manufacturer who has done this with their smartphone.

 

It's just silly.  And this analyst is a fool anyway

Didn't Microsoft sell out of the Kin in the first weekend?

 

/s (for snark)

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post #92 of 103
9/24/12 at 1:11pm
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky View Post
Didn't Microsoft sell out of the Kin in the first weekend?

 

All 50 of them.

 

Giving to family members of Microsoft employees counts as 'sold'.

PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #93 of 103
9/24/12 at 1:15pm

not 5 million yet, now it is only 4 million and 999,999 because I return my iPhone 5 due to boring designed.  lol.gif

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post #94 of 103
9/24/12 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post

Three points:
  1. Apple books shipments to resellers when the goods are in transit (I think that means on the shipping dock, scheduled for pickup) -- and the ownership actually changes hands.   This has been discussed ad nauseam on AI threads, where someone like @GatorGuy delves into Apple's financials and quotes Apple's policy for booking sales.
  2. Normally, Sell-through is measured as "Shipments to Channel"  --  "Prior Channel Inventory"  ==  "Sell-Through"
  3. With a new product, like the iPhone 5, there is no "Prior Channel Inventory",  so "Shipments to Channel"  --  0  ==  "Sell-Through".

Based on experience as an Apple reseller, and much discussion here, I am quite sure that this is how Apple handles 3rd-party resellers... The thing I am not so sure about is the Apple stick and stucco stores.

As Tim Cook has stated in the quarterly call, and others before him have stated, they call a sale as sell through, not when a retailer buys a phone but when that phone sale is booked by an end user. It's pretty simple, no matter how complex the legal wording might make it sound.
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post #95 of 103
9/24/12 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post

Three points:
  1. Apple books shipments to resellers when the goods are in transit (I think that means on the shipping dock, scheduled for pickup) -- and the ownership actually changes hands.   This has been discussed ad nauseam on AI threads, where someone like @GatorGuy delves into Apple's financials and quotes Apple's policy for booking sales.
  2. Normally, Sell-through is measured as "Shipments to Channel"  --  "Prior Channel Inventory"  ==  "Sell-Through"
  3. With a new product, like the iPhone 5, there is no "Prior Channel Inventory",  so "Shipments to Channel"  --  0  ==  "Sell-Through".

Based on experience as an Apple reseller, and much discussion here, I am quite sure that this is how Apple handles 3rd-party resellers... The thing I am not so sure about is the Apple stick and stucco stores.

As Tim Cook has stated in the quarterly call, and others before him have stated, they call a sale as sell through, not when a retailer buys a phone but when that phone sale is booked by an end user. It's pretty simple, no matter how complex the legal wording might make it sound.

Can you point me to a link? I've listened to every quarterly call for the last several years and I don't recall the statement having ever been made exactly that way -- It never was that unequivocal.
Edited by Dick Applebaum - 9/24/12 at 4:55pm
"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
Reply
"So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
– Alan Kay –
Reply
post #96 of 103
9/24/12 at 5:08pm

Awesome, we have a new gate!

 

Apple-only-sold-5-million-in-1-weekend-disappointment-gate!

 

I predict Apple will be out of business next month, selling my stock, SJ rolling in his grave, etc etc.

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post #97 of 103
9/24/12 at 5:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post

Does this figure include all the sales that are still processing and haven't shipped (or aren't in transit)? Because I'm assuming if your order is still processing and you don't have any tracking information you still have the right to cancel the order?

 

It's just phones in hands, not including those sold but still in transit.

 

http://www.cultofmac.com/192038/look-at-all-these-iphone-5s-flooding-fedexs-distribution-center-image/

"We're Apple. We don't wear suits. We don't even own suits."
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"We're Apple. We don't wear suits. We don't even own suits."
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post #98 of 103
9/24/12 at 7:11pm
Keep in mind that Apple does NOT count the many pre-orders that have not been delivered. The initial allotment of iPhones for pre-orders was apparently sold out in one hour. After that, buyers were told that their iPhones would be shipped in 1-2 weeks. Pre-orders in the first 24 hours exceeded 2 million--and there were several more days of pre-orders. Thus, it's likely that there are several million pre-orders that have not been delivered.
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post #99 of 103
9/25/12 at 8:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post

Can you point me to a link? I've listened to every quarterly call for the last several years and I don't recall the statement having ever been made exactly that way -- It never was that unequivocal.

It actually was, and no, I'm not listening through several hours of calls. That's something you'll need to do if you're really interested. It's has been stated several times by the CEO, and by the CFO. Just listen to the calls.
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post #100 of 103
9/25/12 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross View Post


There is no possible way a thousand transactions an hour. I've been to a number of these things, and even the big stores in NYC don't get to that number.

 

 

Sure they do! They probably can't sustain that on an ongoing basis in just any store, but some stores can definitely do "burst" selling when they have stock and are set up for it on a launch day. In one example I observed in Los Angeles: On the launch day for the 3GS, they had large stacks of new product forming a wall at the back of the store. Customers in line were moved inside in three queues that were being processed (sales completed via the handheld cashiers) in real time WHILE shuffling along their way to the counter in back that sits in front of that 'wall' of phones... their purchase is waiting for them and bagged as they arrive, and they just pickup and head straight out again… There were 7 or 8 staff PER QUEUE just swiping cards and placing the orders in. There was an "iPhone only" queue, so they could just state which model/color, swipe and go…  And then the the other queues allowed for some accessories and other goods on top of the iPhone… once the line started moving, it went pretty quickly. Easily 15 to 20 sales a minute. And then there was the rest of the store still doing their normal robust sales… 

 

They sold out of quite a few thousand in-stock iPhones over a few hours of pretty much continuous sales (and that 2-per person limit was in effect as I recall), so I know they had to be doing a thousand an hour at the peak… 

 

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post #101 of 103
9/25/12 at 11:12am

hmm they say this is the next big thing. but i recently saw an ad from samsung saying s3 is the next big thing and it is already here. whatsoever. wonder about the samsung selling rates comparing to iPhone 5

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post #102 of 103
9/25/12 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribalogical View Post


Sure they do! They probably can't sustain that on an ongoing basis in just any store, but some stores can definitely do "burst" selling when they have stock and are set up for it on a launch day. In one example I observed in Los Angeles: On the launch day for the 3GS, they had large stacks of new product forming a wall at the back of the store. Customers in line were moved inside in three queues that were being processed (sales completed via the handheld cashiers) in real time WHILE shuffling along their way to the counter in back that sits in front of that 'wall' of phones... their purchase is waiting for them and bagged as they arrive, and they just pickup and head straight out again… There were 7 or 8 staff PER QUEUE just swiping cards and placing the orders in. There was an "iPhone only" queue, so they could just state which model/color, swipe and go…  And then the the other queues allowed for some accessories and other goods on top of the iPhone… once the line started moving, it went pretty quickly. Easily 15 to 20 sales a minute. And then there was the rest of the store still doing their normal robust sales… 



 



They sold out of quite a few thousand in-stock iPhones over a few hours of pretty much continuous sales (and that 2-per person limit was in effect as I recall), so I know they had to be doing a thousand an hour at the peak… 



 



I doubt those numbers very much. First of all, most buyers are sat down with a sales person to get their phone working, and that can take several minutes. It can take ten minutes to finish a transaction, as they get the phone registered, and functioning with the carrier. There are 60 minutes in a hour. Even if ten people are served at once and they get them out in ten minutes on average, a pretty good timing, that would be, at most 600 people an hour, and that's a lot. Even at the fifth Avenue store I haven't seen that rapid service. And you can count how fast the people outside are moving in. I've never seen it move that fast

At the smaller stores around NYC, if they do half that it would be good.

There might be a very small number of stores that could, just barely manage a thousand an hour, but it wouldn't affect the overall numbers much.
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post #103 of 103
9/26/12 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross View Post


I doubt those numbers very much. First of all, most buyers are sat down with a sales person to get their phone working, and that can take several minutes. It can take ten minutes to finish a transaction, as they get the phone registered, and functioning with the carrier. There are 60 minutes in a hour. Even if ten people are served at once and they get them out in ten minutes on average, a pretty good timing, that would be, at most 600 people an hour, and that's a lot. Even at the fifth Avenue store I haven't seen that rapid service. And you can count how fast the people outside are moving in. I've never seen it move that fast
At the smaller stores around NYC, if they do half that it would be good.
There might be a very small number of stores that could, just barely manage a thousand an hour, but it wouldn't affect the overall numbers much.

 

I haven't been to these events for the past couple of phone versions, nor for the iPads… perhaps something has changed? At the time the 3GS was released, most people were doing the activations themselves, not "sitting down" (genius bar?) in-store at time of purchase to do that process. It is intended to be user manageable and straightforward, designed for doing oneself...

 

As I understood it, that activation process has become even smoother and easier. I'd be surprised if most people NOW need to sit down and get help activating at the time and place of purchase. And, watching the videos from these launch events, most people are coming out (cheering and being cheered), waving around unopened product boxes...

 

No matter. Apparently, by whatever method worked, Apple managed to sell through 5 million of them in a single weekend...

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