Apple warns investors it won't announce iPhone 7 opening weekend sales

Posted:
in iPhone
Apple will break tradition and won't announce launch sales of the upcoming iPhone 7, the company announced on Thursday, due to demand for the next-generation handset outstripping supply.




"In years past, we've announced how many new iPhones had been sold as of the first weekend following launch," Apple said in a statement to CNBC "But as we have expanded our distribution through carriers and resellers to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, we are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7.

"These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers. Therefore we won't be releasing a first-weekend number any longer. We are reiterating the financial guidance September quarter that we provided on July 26."

Last year, the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus moved a record 13 million units in their first three days. The iPhone 6s series went on to provide Apple its best-ever quarter in the holiday 2015 season, before sales began to cool off in 2016 and led to the first-ever year-over-year decline in iPhone sales.

When new iPhones launch, officials at Apple are usually quick to point out that they are selling as many handsets as they can make, with demand greatly outstripping supply. Apple's comments on Thursday make it clear that it expects the pattern to continue with this year's iPhone 7 launch.

Preorders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus begin Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific, 3:01 a.m. Eastern. The device will find its way into the hands of consumers a week later, on Sept. 16.

For more, see AppleInsider's hands-on look at the iPhone 7 from this week's media briefing in San Francisco.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Good. No more BS analysis from "analysts ". 
    tmayDeelronSpamSandwichjfc1138palominechabiglostkiwijbdragonsricejony0
  • Reply 2 of 70
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Hmm, let me get this straight.  Apple's market cap, today, is $570b.  In Sept 2012 after the iPhone 5 intro, it reached $665b.  

    So the Apple of today, with 

    $150b more in cash, 
    with the iPad mini, 
    iPad Pro (in two sizes), 
    larger screen iPhones, 
    the retina MacBook, 
    a game-playing AppleTV, 
    the Apple Watch, 
    Apple Music, 
    Apple Pay, 
    a car on the way, 
    partnerships with IBM, Cisco, and SAP,
    and recent hints dropped by Cook about Entering the AR segment
    and probably a few things I left out... 

    today's Apple is somehow worth $95b less than the Apple of Sept 2012?  

    I'm not seeing how that makes any sense.  

    And so I'll remain long.
    jmey267pscooter63TurboPGTtmaySpamSandwichDeelronxiamenbillpalominedamonfai46
  • Reply 3 of 70
    Makes sense to me, but I can see the doom and gloom crowd running with this and spewing hate that Apple won't release them because no one wants the phone. So we get to put up with this nonsense until the quarterly report I guess.
    caliTurboPGTtmaySpamSandwichmacxpressDeelronjfc1138lostkiwijbdragonjony0
  • Reply 4 of 70
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Makes sense but I was excited to hear launch numbers  :(

    Oh and doom articles incoming even though no other company shares sales numbers.
    lostkiwijony0
  • Reply 5 of 70
    Hmm, let me get this straight.  Apple's market cap, today, is $570b.  In Sept 2012 after the iPhone 5 intro, it reached $665b.  

    So the Apple of today, with 

    $150b more in cash, 
    with the iPad mini, 
    iPad Pro (in two sizes), 
    larger screen iPhones, 
    the retina MacBook, 
    a game-playing AppleTV, 
    the Apple Watch, 
    Apple Music, 
    Apple Pay, 
    a car on the way, 
    partnerships with IBM, Cisco, and SAP,
    and recent hints dropped by Cook about Entering the AR segment
    and probably a few things I left out... 

    today's Apple is somehow worth $95b less than the Apple of Sept 2012?  

    I'm not seeing how that makes any sense.  

    And so I'll remain long.
    Don't forget the add in their debt when you cite cash. Also, the market value and market cap is more about growth and not as much about other metrics. If they are growing, people run up the prices to where they think the true value of the stock will be. When they are struggling with growth, it comes crashing down to at or below where they are actually at. Why buy-in and run the price up if they are not growing much? Yeah the dividend helps, but other investors will chase the next stop with high growth.
    cnocbui
  • Reply 6 of 70
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Oh, and one more thing...

    About every four years Apple has a fiscal Q1 that contains 14 weeks rather than 13, providing a quarter that's 7.69% longer than the usual 13 week holiday quarter.  And as it happens, this is one of those years.  Happy Holidays, Apple longs!
    TurboPGTSpamSandwichDeelronpalominecaliSolilostkiwiloquiturjbdragonpscooter63
  • Reply 7 of 70
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    Well-connected insiders have estimated somewhere between a few and many.
    chabigcalijbdragonretrogustochia
  • Reply 8 of 70
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    ...today's Apple is somehow worth $95b less than the Apple of Sept 2012?  

    I'm not seeing how that makes any sense.  

    And so I'll remain long.
    And so I'll stay out of the market. :)
    I've mentioned before I don't invest in anything that doesn't make sense. The stock market is one of those things. 
    Soli
  • Reply 9 of 70
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    By the way, T-Mo will be offering free 32gb iPhone 7's with iPhone 6 or newer trade-in beginning tomorrow. That's a great deal!

    "Starting September 9 at 12:01am PT, all new and current T-Mobile customers can pre-order a new iPhone 7 from T-Mobile and get up to $650 in monthly bill credits over 24 months when they trade-in their iPhone 6 or newer model. Want a different model or more memory? Just pay a little more upfront."

    edited September 2016 xiamenbilldamonfjbishop1039
  • Reply 10 of 70
    Definitely makes sense. Why publish "we sold 13 million" when its really "we only HAD 13 million, and sold them all. Could have been 16-20"
    jfc1138caliSolinolamacguyloquiturjony0
  • Reply 11 of 70
    So basically Apple is saying launch weekend orders will be the same or less than last year and that's really not anything worthy of a press release.
    dasanman69
  • Reply 12 of 70
    gatorguy said:
    ...today's Apple is somehow worth $95b less than the Apple of Sept 2012?  

    I'm not seeing how that makes any sense.  

    And so I'll remain long.
    And so I'll stay out of the market.
    I've mentioned before I don't invest in anything that doesn't make sense. The stock market is one of those things. 
    Long term it makes sense. Short term one would be rolling the dice, playing Russian roulette and committing seppuku simultaneously.

    i recently read a survey that concluded the majority of day traders lose money, which makes sense.
    edited September 2016 palomine
  • Reply 13 of 70
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    So basically Apple is saying launch weekend orders will be the same or less than last year and that's really not anything worthy of a press release.
    Umm...no thats not what Apple is saying. 
    tmayai46chabighodarcalinolamacguyDeelronpscooter63
  • Reply 14 of 70
    512ke512ke Posts: 782member
    No matter what number Apple announces, the press will savage that figure. If Apple really hits it out of the park, the headline will be, it's only because Samsung phones blew up, or the click bait will be -- Apple does well for now -- but what about tomorrow!?

    Or in other instances they'll say.. Apple beat its own guidance, but they wildly missed MY PERSONAL prediction (which was a zillion). So the headline can be... Apple FAILS!

    It's all about getting clicks, and negative, sensationalistic stories about Apple make money for people.

    So why feed that machine if you're Apple? Just keep 'em guessing and reveal sales/profit only on quarterly calls (if then).


    Makes sense to me personally...

    jfc1138chabighodarSolilostkiwiDeelronwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 70
    They should not have said anything. Now there are going to be even more doom and gloom articles about their company. Maybe they will release something new and exciting before Christmas. Surely they have something else to announce for the holidays!
    hodar
  • Reply 16 of 70
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    another few months of Channel Check articles...great 
  • Reply 17 of 70
    Yes because YOY the numbers are goin' down. This aint 2012 anymore. 
    hodarcnocbui
  • Reply 18 of 70
    So basically Apple is saying launch weekend orders will be the same or less than last year and that's really not anything worthy of a press release.
    It's almost like we can count on you, to deliver the trolls' counter.

    Generally speaking, if they can't make enough to satisfy demand for launch weekend, it makes no sense to publish "this is what we sold", as its not indicative of what they could have sold. The results have always been posted as "this is what we sold" and thats how they are taken. When it comes to sales, there is no "but it could have been more". Numbers are the numbers. So if you know the numbers don't represent demand, don't publish them as such.

    It is entirely possible that if Apple were able to produce and fulfill 20 million iPhones this launch, they'd have 20 million and sold and reportable. Numbers breaking their own records by almost double. But if they can only fulfill 10 or 12 million, it pushes back the numbers into the next week, but those wouldn't be "sold" launch weekend. Doesn't make sense to shoot themselves in the foot like that.
    edited September 2016 mwhitecali
  • Reply 19 of 70
    Haptic, Taptic I guess it's all the same thing. First time I heard the word Taptic in a video describing the Haptic Engine.
  • Reply 20 of 70
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Hmm, let me get this straight.  Apple's market cap, today, is $570b.  In Sept 2012 after the iPhone 5 intro, it reached $665b.  

    So the Apple of today, with 

    $150b more in cash, 
    with the iPad mini, 
    iPad Pro (in two sizes), 
    larger screen iPhones, 
    the retina MacBook, 
    a game-playing AppleTV, 
    the Apple Watch, 
    Apple Music, 
    Apple Pay, 
    a car on the way, 
    partnerships with IBM, Cisco, and SAP,
    and recent hints dropped by Cook about Entering the AR segment
    and probably a few things I left out... 

    today's Apple is somehow worth $95b less than the Apple of Sept 2012?  

    I'm not seeing how that makes any sense.  

    And so I'll remain long.
    Don't forget the add in their debt when you cite cash. Also, the market value and market cap is more about growth and not as much about other metrics. If they are growing, people run up the prices to where they think the true value of the stock will be. When they are struggling with growth, it comes crashing down to at or below where they are actually at. Why buy-in and run the price up if they are not growing much? Yeah the dividend helps, but other investors will chase the next stop with high growth.
    Correct me if I am wrong, I could well be.   I was of the understanding that Apple's 'debt' is actually a net gain given the interest rate they pay versus the dividends they save in buying their own shares.  
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