Apple immediately sells out of WWDC 2013 tickets
Tickets for Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference sold out in a matter of seconds after they went on sale on Thursday, marking the fastest sell-out in WWDC history.
Passes for the conference went on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, and were priced at $1,599. By just two minutes after the hour, the event was sold out. In comparison, last year it took about two hours for tickets to sell out.
This year's conference. will take place June 10 through 14 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Calif. In a rare reveal, Apple has publicly signaled that it intends to show off the next releases of both iOS and OS X at this year's event. It's expected that WWDC 2013 will mark the first time Apple shows off both iOS 7 and OS X 10.9, and that beta builds of the pre-release software will be provided to developers for testing.
For those who didn't get tickets before they sold out on Thursday, Apple has promised to make video recordings of all WWDC 2013 sessions available online to registered developers.
The five-day conference is scheduled to feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by more than 1,000 Apple engineers. WWDC 2013 will also include hands-on labs aimed at helping developers integrate new technologies, as well as the annual Apple Design Awards showcasing some of the most outstanding iOS and Mac App Store applications.
Passes for the conference went on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, and were priced at $1,599. By just two minutes after the hour, the event was sold out. In comparison, last year it took about two hours for tickets to sell out.
This year's conference. will take place June 10 through 14 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Calif. In a rare reveal, Apple has publicly signaled that it intends to show off the next releases of both iOS and OS X at this year's event. It's expected that WWDC 2013 will mark the first time Apple shows off both iOS 7 and OS X 10.9, and that beta builds of the pre-release software will be provided to developers for testing.
For those who didn't get tickets before they sold out on Thursday, Apple has promised to make video recordings of all WWDC 2013 sessions available online to registered developers.
The five-day conference is scheduled to feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by more than 1,000 Apple engineers. WWDC 2013 will also include hands-on labs aimed at helping developers integrate new technologies, as well as the annual Apple Design Awards showcasing some of the most outstanding iOS and Mac App Store applications.
Comments
in a matter of seconds
And people said they couldn't beat out "under two hours" from last year.
Next year Apple's first announcement of WWDC will be a page that just says "SOLD OUT".
Originally Posted by drblank
It looks like Apple needs a bigger venue.
WWDC in the courtyard (and grounds) of Apple Campus 2 would work.
Absolutely ridiculous. I had a ticket in my cart at 1 minute after the hour, went to checkout, it asked for yet another login at checkout, and then wouldn't let me press Sign In or Enter or Continue As Guest. My only option was to Cancel and try to add the ticket again (this was at 2 minutes after the hour), but it was already sold out at that point.
I've pushed buy ticket, entered my credentials and got error message from the server.
Retried a few times, and then sold out by 10:02am
This is totally bullsh*t.
So while it seemed like pre-announcing, and making the videos more available, would relieve some of the landrush problem, in the end it didn't really help the problem at all.
Size of the venue is not the problem. The most compelling reason to attend is access to Apple engineers. More people = less access. So a bigger venue won't solve the problem.
A few more regional events would help, but you can only spread those engineers to far. They still have to work.
Frankly, I don't see much of a solution -- perhaps a lottery? It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.
//B
I wonder how many tickets go to reporters just trying to get into the keynote.
WWDC 2010: 8 days
WWDC 2011: 12 hrs
WWDC 2012: 2 hrs
WWDC 2013: 2 min
Holy fucking shit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bearheart
So while it seemed like pre-announcing, and making the videos more available, would relieve some of the landrush problem, in the end it didn't really help the problem at all.
Yeah, announcing the videos certainly helped me choose not to try to join the rush. But the pre-announce of what time they'd go on sale today just made tens of thousands of people be ready with their browsers to purchase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scotty321
I don't understand why Apple doesn't just move this event to a bigger venue. There are thousands of events that take place all across the nation that host hundreds of thousands of people at convention centers, stadiums, etc. Yet Apple only lets in something like 6,000 people to this event?
This will be answered countless times, but...
Its because the constraining factor is not the size of the venue, but the number of Apple developers available. The AppleDevelopers/Attendees ratio.
Expanding the event to a point where each Apple body is overwhelmed by hundreds of attendees makes the event pointless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
I pulled up AAPL on Yahoo's finance page. Not one story on WWDC selling out in minutes. But there was a story from Investors Business Daily about Apple cutting its retail workforce (noted in Apple's quarterly SEC filing).
I'm completely conflicted about whether to pounce on the stock now.. it's risen a decent amt since its low of $387, but have no idea if it will continue or crater again. So fucking unpredictable.
Somehow this means Apple in DOOOOMED.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
WWDC 2010: 8 days
WWDC 2011: 12 hrs
WWDC 2012: 2 hrs
WWDC 2013: 2 min
Holy fucking shit.
"Nobody goes there anymore... its too crowded."
(paraphrasing Casey)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
WWDC 2010: 8 days
WWDC 2011: 12 hrs
WWDC 2012: 2 hrs
WWDC 2013: 2 min
Holy fucking shit.
Impressive indeed. But it's important to note that the "mechanism" for announcement and registration has not been the same in the 4 years listed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
WWDC 2010: 8 days
WWDC 2011: 12 hrs
WWDC 2012: 2 hrs
WWDC 2013: 2 min
Holy fucking shit.
Now WWDC ticket sales can be used as a measure in Apple's popularity huh? Then it must somehow affect the stock price, right? The average acceleration in ticket sellout time was 90% for the past 3 years. So if Apple doesn't sell out those tickets in 12 seconds next year, that means their growth is slowing. Stock falling!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Do they have enough engineers to staff for a week if they has a larger venue?
Yes. But considering that iOS 7 is behind schedule, they wouldn't want to send too many on extended 'vacation'.
Originally Posted by stelligent
…considering that iOS 7 is behind schedule…
[citation needed]
i'm not sure how, but I 'm sure that this will be proof positive in some circles that developers are abandoning the iOS and OSX in droves ;-)