iPhone 5 supply catching up with demand at US Apple Stores
Supply of the iPhone 5 for carriers AT&T and Verizon continues to improve, and may reach consistent availability in the next 2 to 3 weeks, according to a new survey of Apple retail stores.
Gene Munster and his team at Piper Jaffray have been conducting nightly inventory checks at 100 Apple Stores. They found this week that availability of the iPhone 5 at all three major U.S. carriers, including Sprint, was above 20 percent for the first time.
Specifically, 54 percent of Apple Stores polled had the AT&T model in stock, while 24 percent had the Verizon model, and 84 percent were stocked of the Sprint variety.
The numbers are a big improvement from before, when supplies of the iPhone 5 for AT&T and Verizon were severely constrained. Availability of the iPhone 5 through Sprint, which is the third-largest carrier in the U.S., has been consistent for a few weeks now.
"We believe this is an important step for Apple as it appears they are finally gaining momentum in being able to keep up with demand for the iPhone 5," Munster wrote on Friday. "We believe that if AT&T and Verizon device availability follows the same trend as Sprint, it may only be 2-3 weeks before iPhone 5s are consistently available to customers."

The information aligns with a separate report issued on Thursday which cited checks in Apple's supply chain in revealing that production capacity for the iPhone 5 is "much improved" from when the device first launched in September.
Munster's survey of 100 Apple Stores has been ongoing for the last 23 days. To determine availability, his team has checked the Apple online store 30 minutes after new iPhone 5 units become available for reservation at 10 p.m. local time each night. His sample consists of 100 stores across the U.S. serving 10 different zip codes.
Gene Munster and his team at Piper Jaffray have been conducting nightly inventory checks at 100 Apple Stores. They found this week that availability of the iPhone 5 at all three major U.S. carriers, including Sprint, was above 20 percent for the first time.
Specifically, 54 percent of Apple Stores polled had the AT&T model in stock, while 24 percent had the Verizon model, and 84 percent were stocked of the Sprint variety.
The numbers are a big improvement from before, when supplies of the iPhone 5 for AT&T and Verizon were severely constrained. Availability of the iPhone 5 through Sprint, which is the third-largest carrier in the U.S., has been consistent for a few weeks now.
"We believe this is an important step for Apple as it appears they are finally gaining momentum in being able to keep up with demand for the iPhone 5," Munster wrote on Friday. "We believe that if AT&T and Verizon device availability follows the same trend as Sprint, it may only be 2-3 weeks before iPhone 5s are consistently available to customers."

The information aligns with a separate report issued on Thursday which cited checks in Apple's supply chain in revealing that production capacity for the iPhone 5 is "much improved" from when the device first launched in September.
Munster's survey of 100 Apple Stores has been ongoing for the last 23 days. To determine availability, his team has checked the Apple online store 30 minutes after new iPhone 5 units become available for reservation at 10 p.m. local time each night. His sample consists of 100 stores across the U.S. serving 10 different zip codes.
Comments
Oh... that means tha no one is buying them!
I bet that today the stock goes under 500$
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Oh... that means tha no one is buying them!
I bet that today the stock goes under 500$
Monty Python
Bring out your dead?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
Bring out your dead?
… sweating through yr eyes indeed!
Also, he misses another detail. The resellers. AT&T folks are likely unlocked if bought full price and the
Verizon are at any price. So Apple has to deal with reseller stunts which screw with availibility. The overnight game may help tone some of that down since they prefer cash over credit and no names etc. but it won't kill things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Oh... that means tha no one is buying them!
I bet that today the stock goes under 500$
Vote for Pedro...?
How is it an important step to continue conducting business and managing the supply chain as they have been for years? Really I am wondering how this is news?
If the iPhone 5 spent 6 months under constraint resulting from some major supply chain issue that was just resolved okay maybe that is an important step.
Of course it also amazes me that people never seem to learn that supposed "barriers" including examples such as the sound-barrier, the 4 minute mile, were seen as "barriers" and even described as being physically impossible to overcome until whoops, someone did just that and these "barriers" then became milestones or plateaus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilgto64
"An important step for Apple" what step exactly? how does this differ from nearly any previous recent product introduction? or even compared to other products from other companies both in an out of the tech industry?
How is it an important step to continue conducting business and managing the supply chain as they have been for years? Really I am wondering how this is news?
If the iPhone 5 spent 6 months under constraint resulting from some major supply chain issue that was just resolved okay maybe that is an important step.
Of course it also amazes me that people never seem to learn that supposed "barriers" including examples such as the sound-barrier, the 4 minute mile, were seen as "barriers" and even described as being physically impossible to overcome until whoops, someone did just that and these "barriers" then became milestones or plateaus.
Since when attention-seekers care about history?
Now, now with NO regard for context is the gist for them.
You just pulled this out of your nether regions, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkrupp
So yesterday we read about the Foxconn factory being unable to meet iPhone 5 demand, even an explanation from one of the execs.Today we read that iPhone 5 supply is catching up with demand. So which is which and how does it get spun? Positive or negative?
Oh so you want logic and reason in this world, well... No soup for you!
Post headlines like that and the stock might actually go up!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh
No, no-- the title should be iPhone 5 demand waning, leading to greater availability. /s
Post headlines like that and the stock might actually go up!!
I'm still waiting for the headline that says "Demand for (fill in Apple product here) has fallen so far below Supply that Apple has slashed retail prices in half to clear inventory" so I can snap up some goodies. When is that going to happen?
Maybe the Apple Corporate Slogan is not Think Different but Damned if you Do and Damned if you Don't - or perhaps that is a more reactionary stance.
Oh well, at least we only have 6 weeks left till the end of the world. And yeah don't even get me started on the analysts who say THAT is going to come in years late and way over budget.