Apple sold 2 million iPhone 5 units in China launch weekend

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Sales of the iPhone 5 topped two million units in its first weekend of availability in China, Apple announced Sunday evening.

"Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," said Tim Cook, Apple?s CEO. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products."

The iPhone 5 launched in China last Friday, Dec. 14. Apple's latest smartphones will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of December, making it the fastest iPhone rollout ever.

Apple's announcement on Sunday only disclosed sales of the iPhone 5 in China, and did not include the 32 other countries where the iPhone 5 went on sale last Friday.

iPhone 5


Some pundits expressed concern that lines for the iPhone 5 were shorter than usual at Apple's retail stores throughout China. But that was by design, as Apple switched to an online reservation system in response to rampant scalping and incidents of violence during previous product launches.

Signs of a record breaking debut for the iPhone 5 in China came last week, when it was announced that preorders for the handset through carrier China Unicom exceeded 300,000 as of last Monday. In comparison, China Unicom saw 200,000 preorders for the iPhone 4S, suggesting demand is even greater for Apple's latest model.

Availability of the iPhone 5 was also greater than previous models: The iPhone 4S launched only on one carrier, China Unicom, while the iPhone 5 debuted on two, adding China Telecom to the mix.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 86


    Only 2 million. Fail¡

     

  • Reply 2 of 86
    nealgnealg Posts: 132member
    As an Apple shareholder, this is good news. I wonder how some in the media might try to spin this. Apple should open positively with this news tomorrow but one never knows these days.
  • Reply 3 of 86


    Tomorrow afternoon:


     


    In other news, Apple's stock dropped $100 per share, per hour, upon the opening of trading today.

  • Reply 4 of 86
    Don't worry, the 'investors' (read traders/speculators) will take Apple down another 100 points because Apple didn't sell 100 million this weekend !!!
  • Reply 5 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post


    Only 2 million. Fail¡

     



     


    You've become quite the Apple hater recently. Should we blame it on possible stock losses because you happened to bet wrong?


     


    It should be noted that the iPhone 5 is more expensive for Chinese in China because of various taxes that are applied to imports. I've read that it's cheaper to pay a scalper who buys in the US and flies the product back to China instead of buying the item in China proper.

  • Reply 6 of 86
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    nealg wrote: »
    As an Apple shareholder, this is good news. I wonder how some in the media might try to spin this. Apple should open positively with this news tomorrow but one never knows these days.
    well the clowns on MacRumors are claiming 2M out of a population of 1.3B is nothing. Of course assuming anything close to 1.3B can afford a smartphone in China is laughable. I'd love to know how many S3's were sold over 3 days in China.

    The media can try and spin this in a negative way but the way they were reporting it you'd think no one in China was buying an iPhone. :rolleyes:
  • Reply 7 of 86
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Tomorrow afternoon:

    In other news, Apple's stock dropped $100 per share, per hour, upon the opening of trading today.
    Well Citigroup just downgraded AAPL to neutral because they don't think iPhone sales are strong. That will drive AAPL stock down tomorrow.
  • Reply 8 of 86


    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post

    Well Citigroup just downgraded AAPL to neutral because they don't think iPhone sales are strong. That will drive AAPL stock down tomorrow.


     


    So will there ever be anything even remotely resembling an apology when these LIARS and IDIOTS manipulating the stock are wrong? Is there any legal recourse that Apple can take to protect themselves from this? 


     


    If not, this is basically the financial world equivalent of it being illegal for us to remove spam from the forum. But obviously infinitely more important, given that it's money involved.


     


    Apple needs to buy itself and go private again. Keep breaking all of its sales and profit records quarter after quarter with no one to please but its customers, and be able to give two thumbs down (and simultaneously two birds up) to the analysts and shorters.

  • Reply 9 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


     


    You've become quite the Apple hater recently. Should we blame it on possible stock losses because you happened to bet wrong?


     


    It should be noted that the iPhone 5 is more expensive for Chinese in China because of various taxes that are applied to imports. I've read that it's cheaper to pay a scalper who buys in the US and flies the product back to China instead of buying the item in China proper.



    Apple hater? I've never posted one negative thing about Apple.


     


    By the way... if you were really paying attention you'd know that this symbol, "¡", is used to indicate sarcasm.


     


    By the way 2... only 2 million sold could be viewed in a negative way... even though, to the best of my knowledge, no other manufacturer has even come close to this figure.


     


    ... and, no, I bounced out with a small loss and am waiting for a price in the 400s... the death cross said it all.

  • Reply 10 of 86
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post


    Only 2 million. Fail¡

     



     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


     


    You've become quite the Apple hater recently. Should we blame it on possible stock losses because you happened to bet wrong?


     


    It should be noted that the iPhone 5 is more expensive for Chinese in China because of various taxes that are applied to imports. I've read that it's cheaper to pay a scalper who buys in the US and flies the product back to China instead of buying the item in China proper.



     


    He's always been a bit of an enigma but tends to the hater side, yes. However it must be pointed out that growing frustration with investor's seemingly panicked reaction lately when it comes to AAPL is grating on the nerves. Just about every credible analyst out there repeats that there is no logical reason for this pull back considering the continued stellar performance of the company. All the metrics are rising but it seems everybody is just sitting there waiting for Apple to implode into nothingness and disappear. Irrational exuberance has given way to panicked pessimism. Because of the size of lines in front of a store? Really?

  • Reply 11 of 86
    smalmsmalm Posts: 677member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Well Citigroup just downgraded AAPL to neutral because they don't think iPhone sales are strong.


    Citigroup? Aren't that those guys who needed a little help recently because they knew their business so well?

  • Reply 12 of 86
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    @ lkrupp and SpamSandwich,

    Note that he wrote, "By the way... if you were really paying attention you'd know that this symbol, "¡", is used to indicate sarcasm."

    This forum might be the only English speaking forum that uses the irony punctuation but I think it's been used frequently enough and over a long enough time frame to be common knowledge to regulars on this forum.


    rogifan wrote: »
    Well Citigroup just downgraded AAPL to neutral because they don't think iPhone sales are strong. That will drive AAPL stock down tomorrow.

    On the bright side tomorrow willl be a good time to buy AAPL.
  • Reply 13 of 86
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    So will there ever be anything even remotely resembling an apology when these LIARS and IDIOTS manipulating the stock are wrong? Is there any legal recourse that Apple can take to protect themselves from this? 

    If not, this is basically the financial world equivalent of it being illegal for us to remove spam from the forum. But obviously infinitely more important, given that it's money involved.

    Apple needs to buy itself and go private again. Keep breaking all of its sales and profit records quarter after quarter with no one to please but its customers, and be able to give two thumbs down (and simultaneously two birds up) to the analysts and shorters.
    Tomorrow should be interesting. The way things have been going I expect the Citigroup downgrade to get more play than the iPhone 5 sales in China. The CNBC clowns will just claim generous subsidies were the reason for the high sales. Even though on Friday they were spinning the lackluster sales stories because there weren't long lines everywhere. Bottom line they'll spin things negative and AAPL will probably be down another $20. :rolleyes:
  • Reply 14 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    On the bright side tomorrow willl be a good time to buy AAPL.


     


    It might not hit bottom but how could you go wrong with anything in the 400s. Even if the 1st fiscal quarter was exactly the same  yoy, the stock would still be good for $600 or better.

  • Reply 15 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    He's always been a bit of an enigma but tends to the hater side, yes.


     



     


    If that's true then you must be on the fucked up side.


  • Reply 16 of 86
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    lkrupp wrote: »
    "Irrational exuberance has given way to panicked pessimism."

    I love this quote. So true too.
  • Reply 17 of 86
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    How can Chinese people afford iPhones considering that their average income is just around $4000 a year?!?! Clearly, not many.
  • Reply 18 of 86
    CitiGroup? Really? The stock that's been a disaster for the past 5 years and you think they are still respected? Try again.
  • Reply 19 of 86
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    netrox wrote: »
    How can Chinese people afford iPhones considering that their average income is just around $4000 a year?!?! Clearly, not many.

    The ones making $4,000 USD a year can't afford to spend $850 USD on a phone. Assuming your figure is accurate, that would be an arithmetic mean average. If we take the mean average of any nation it would be impossible for anyone to own a mansion, private jet or yacht.
  • Reply 20 of 86


    Top Google Finance story running before tomorrow's opening:


     


     


    Quote:


    China targets quality, efficient growth in 2013


    Xinhua - 1 hour ago


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities vowed Sunday to focus on quality and efficiency of economic growth in 2013, demonstrating their determination to ensure sustainable and healthy economic development after the previous pursuit of fast-track ...


     





     


     


    Quote:


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities vowed Sunday to focus on quality and efficiency of economic growth in 2013, demonstrating their determination to ensure sustainable and healthy economic development after the previous pursuit of fast-track growth.


     


    A statement issued after the closure of central economic work conference, which set the tone for economic policymaking next year, said "enhancing quality and efficiency of economic growth" will be a "central task."


     


    The two-day conference offered a first glimpse into economic policies eyed by the new top leaders of the Communist Party of China, who decided to maintain a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2013 as they expect global economy to maintain a low growth.


    "The global economy has entered a period of profound transition and correction from a period of fast growth in the pre-crisis years," the statement said, warning of rising protectionism and increasing pressure from potential inflation and asset bubbles.


     


    Easing measures, included the latest round of quantitative easing in the Unites States and monetary easing in other economies, have again pushed up global inflationary pressure.


     


    Yao Jingyuan, a researcher from the Councilor's Office of the State Council, or China's cabinet, said the most prominent problem with the Chinese economy is no longer growth rate but its quality and efficiency, which will stay unsteady and unsustainable if these issues are not solved.


     


    Due to flagging exports and domestic efforts to contain runaway property prices, China's annual economic growth slipped to 7.4 percent in the third quarter this year, slowing for seven quarters in a row.


     


    To boost quality growth, the statement said expanding domestic demand will be a strategic basis for China's development next year.


    New growth points should be created in domestic consumption, which will serve as both a strong pulling power and foundation for the economy's sustained and healthy development, it said.


     


    The country has been trying to restructure national economy to wean off its reliance on exports for growth, as its main trade partners like the European Union and the United States are embroiled in debt crisis.


     


    The meeting especially attached significant importance to urbanization, which has been considered as a main driver for domestic demand and will be actively and steadily pushed forward in 2013, said the statement.


     


    The country will center its efforts on improving the quality of urbanization, incorporating the concept of ecological civilization in the urbanization process to build intelligent, green and low-carbon cities, it said.


     


    "Advancing urbanization will boost both investment and consumption, which plays a significant role in promoting China's sustained and steady growth," said Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communication.


     


    The country's urban population, which outnumbered that of rural areas for the first time at the end of last year, is expected to account for 70 percent of the total population by 2030, according to a World Bank forecast.


     


    To improve people's well-being, the statement said the country will work to boost employment, reinforce social security networks, and step up construction of low-income housing and renovation of run-down areas.


     


    Official data showed China created 10.24 million new jobs in urban areas in the first nine months of the year, exceeding the annual target of 9 million for this year.


     


    China will continue its property market control policies next year, the statement said.


     


    Stubbornly high real estate prices have been a significant source of public complaint in recent years, forcing the government to implement a string of policies like bans on third-home purchases and property tax trials to keep prices down.


     


    However, the property market has shown warming signs in recent months, after the central bank earlier this year twice cut interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio to buoy the economy.


     


    While seeking growth impetus from consumption, China will also look to boosting investment. The statement said the country will encourage both private and public investment on infrastructure projects that will not cause repetitive construction to set foundations for long-term growth.


    China has earlier this year opened a number of state-run sectors such as transport and finance to private investors in a bid to increase the economy's efficiency.


     


    Aware of industry overcapacity, the statement called for industrial restructuring through means like innovations and branding to maintain high-quality development.


     


    The statement said the country will stabilize and increase its share of world markets while boosting imports to support the country's economic restructuring and make its international payment more balanced.


     


    Official data showed exports slowed more than expected in November. In the first 11 months, foreign trade grew 5.8 percent year on year, well below the government target of 10 percent for this year.


     


    The meeting has also agreed that China will "properly expand the amount of social financing to maintain a moderate increase in loan issuances" and keep the yuan's exchange rate "basically stable" next year, according to the statement.


     


    While vowing to fully deepen economic reforms and opening-up, the meeting called for "greater political courage and wisdom" to carry out reforms.


     


    In-depth research and studies should be done to improve the top-level design and general plan for the reforms, and a clear overall scheme, road map and timetable should be made, the statement said.


     


    Most economists have beenputting their forecasts for China's 2012 growth under 8 percent but slightly above the 7.5-percent government target set in March.


     


    Latest figures showed that the country's industrial output has continued to pick up, and retail sales and fixed-asset investment have maintained strong growth.


     


    Related:


    China to continue property controls in 2013


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will continue its property market control policies next year, according to a statement issued Sunday after a two-day central economic work conference held in Beijing.


    The country will step up the construction and management of low-income housing, as well as the renovation of run-down areas, according to the conference, which charts the course for the following year's economic work.   Full story


    More investment to boost Chinese economy next year


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will encourage and increase both private and public investment next year to effectively bolster the country's economic development, said a statement issued Sunday after a two-day central economic work conference closed.


    While encouraging and providing better guidance to private investors, the government will increase public investment on infrastructure projects that will not cause repetitive construction but set foundations for long-term development and benefit people's well-being, it said.  Full story


    Chinese leadership vows to avoid pomp


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese leaders must avoid pomp and circumstance, and take concrete actions to "serve the people wholeheartedly," said a statement issued Sunday after a two-day central economic work conference in Beijing.    Full story


    China vows to protect foreign investors' interests


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China vowed to continue to protect foreign investors' rights and interests and their intellectual property rights, according to a statement issued Sunday after a central economic work conference closed.


    The country will step up its effort to stabilize foreign direct investment inflows while expanding its outbound investment next year.   Full story


    China to advance urbanization next year


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will actively and steadily push forward urbanization next year, with a focus on improving quality of the efforts, according to a statement issued Sunday after a two-day central economic work conference in Beijing.   Full story


    China to expand domestic demand next year


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Expanding domestic demand will be a strategic basis for China's development next year, said a statement issued Sunday after a two-day central economic work conference closed.


    New growth points should be created in domestic consumption, which will serve as both a strong pulling power and foundation for the sustained and healthy development of the country's economy, it said.  Full story


    China to maintain prudent monetary policy in 2013


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to implement the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2013, according to a statement issued Sunday after the closure of a two-day central economic work conference.   Full story


    China to firmly promote economic reforms, opening-up


    BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will fully deepen reforms in its economy system and firmly promote opening-up next year, according to a statement issued after the conclusion of the annual central economic work conference on Sunday.  Full story




     


     


     


    Yes folks, China's meteoric rise has peaked. Sending out press statements redirecting focus on quality over volume is a clean indication they have peaked.

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