Jet black is most popular color option among Sprint's high-capacity iPhone 7 preorders

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in iPhone
With the iPhone 7 back in black, Apple's new glossy jet black aluminum shade has edged out matte black in preorder sales, at least among 128- and 256-capacity models bought through U.S. carrier Sprint.




Sprint announced on Thursday that the jet black iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus rank No. 1 for larger capacity models, ahead of matte black in second place. Rose gold -- last year's most popular color --?dropped to third, while gold is in fourth and silver is in fifth.

Notably, the rankings from Sprint do not include the entry-level 32-gigabyte capacity. It's unknown how the rankings would shake out if that model were included, but Apple does not offer the jet black iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus in a 32-gigabyte model.




Rival carrier T-Mobile, meanwhile, revealed earlier this week that matte black has been the most popular option amongst its subscribers. Unlike Sprint, T-Mobile did not limit its sample size to only 128- and 256-gigabyte capacities.

Both T-Mobile and Sprint have seen preorders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus increase significantly --?T-Mobile said presales were up nearly four times from the two-year-old iPhone 6 series launch, while Sprint said sales are up 375 percent from last year's iPhone 6s debut.

To incentivize upgrades, U.S. carriers have been offering on-contract discounts and trade-in offers for customers looking to buy an iPhone 7. Ahead of the device's launch on Friday, Sprint is offering $100 off the 256-gigabyte capacity, and giving customers the ability to upgrade for free with trade-in of a newer handset and two-year contract commitment.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    It is an intriguing color. I can see why it's selling so well. Apple has always been able to make their products look like "works of art!" Which I think they are. I think Jonny wants the iPhone to be a rounded piece of black glass w/ no ports and no buttons. Same w/ the iPad, Apple Watch and the ATV. Then eventually MacBooks and IMacs. No aluminum, just black glass front and back, with the "Dark" OS's. Glass trackpads and keyboards, too.

    edited September 2016 netroxcaliredgeminipa
  • Reply 2 of 16
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    The only way this can be accurate is if Apple severely underproduced jet black relative to its production of the other colors.
    Otherwise, the shipping times would clearly disprove it.  I have to believe Apple wouldn't underproduce it intentionally, since they are
    pretty savvy about what is going to attract the most attention.  Which would only leave "production problems" to explain the ubiquitous,
    "ships in November", compared to "ships 2-3 weeks" in every other color and size from every carrier.
    rogifan_newDeelron
  • Reply 3 of 16
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,419member
    christopher126 said:
    It is an intriguing color. I can see why it's selling so well. Apple has always been able to make their products look like "works of art!" Which I think they are. I think Jonny wants the iPhone to be a rounded piece of black glass w/ no ports and no buttons. Same w/ the iPad, Apple Watch and the ATV. Then eventually MacBooks and IMacs. No aluminum, just black glass front and back, with the "Dark" OS's. Glass trackpads and keyboards, too.

    I suspect that is what will happen as well.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    sog35 said:
    Lets say you are selling raisin cookies.

    You can produce 1000 cookies a day with the ovens you own.

    Then one day you get a HUGE order to make 10,000 cookies. What would you do?

    Would you buy 10x more ovens to produce those 10,000 cookies in one day to please the customer? HELL NO.

    You would take 10 days to bake the cookies and then give it to the customer. 

    Apple is in the same situation.
    There is MASSIVE initial demand for the Jet Black phone. I could guess it could be at 20-30 million orders. 
    Does Apple have enough 'ovens' to produce 30 million Jet Black phones in a month? HELL NO.
    And no way in hell are they going to double or triple their 'ovens' to make sure they can meet demand in the next few weeks. Because this heavy demand of 30 million Jet Black phones needed in 2 weeks is only temporary.

    Apple does not have a production problem
    they have a too much demand 'problem' 
    Too much demand problem?
    Peak iPhone?

    DOOMED. 

  • Reply 5 of 16
    wreighvenwreighven Posts: 70member
    I'd buy the crap out of a jet black MacBook Pro (or MacBook for that matter).  Heck, even an iMac.  Gorgeous.
  • Reply 6 of 16
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    sog35 said:
    Lets say you are selling raisin cookies.

    You can produce 1000 cookies a day with the ovens you own.

    Then one day you get a HUGE order to make 10,000 cookies. What would you do?

    Would you buy 10x more ovens to produce those 10,000 cookies in one day to please the customer? HELL NO.

    You would take 10 days to bake the cookies and then give it to the customer. 

    Apple is in the same situation.
    There is MASSIVE initial demand for the Jet Black phone. I could guess it could be at 20-30 million orders. 
    Does Apple have enough 'ovens' to produce 30 million Jet Black phones in a month? HELL NO.
    And no way in hell are they going to double or triple their 'ovens' to make sure they can meet demand in the next few weeks. Because this heavy demand of 30 million Jet Black phones needed in 2 weeks is only temporary.

    Apple does not have a production problem
    they have a too much demand 'problem' 
    If demand is this high why did Apple decide not to disclose? Are they worried if someone is given a November ship date they might cancel their order?
  • Reply 7 of 16
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,212member
    sog35 said:
    Lets say you are selling raisin cookies.

    You can produce 1000 cookies a day with the ovens you own.

    Then one day you get a HUGE order to make 10,000 cookies. What would you do?

    Would you buy 10x more ovens to produce those 10,000 cookies in one day to please the customer? HELL NO.

    You would take 10 days to bake the cookies and then give it to the customer. 

    Apple is in the same situation.
    There is MASSIVE initial demand for the Jet Black phone. I could guess it could be at 20-30 million orders. 
    Does Apple have enough 'ovens' to produce 30 million Jet Black phones in a month? HELL NO.
    And no way in hell are they going to double or triple their 'ovens' to make sure they can meet demand in the next few weeks. Because this heavy demand of 30 million Jet Black phones needed in 2 weeks is only temporary.

    Apple does not have a production problem
    they have a too much demand 'problem' 
    Wasn't there some article up here at AI a couple days back saying Apple was now planning for 100M iPhone 7 series phones for the entire production until the new iPhone 8 (or maybe X) Perhaps I misread but I can't imagine they've already been hit with 30million Apple end-users wanting black ones. In any event it looks like Apple has discovered a few black ones lying around with some pre-order customers unexpectedly being advised they'll receive theirs early next week (even Plus's?) when they weren't expected for another couple of weeks.  
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 8 of 16
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Is this really a surprise? Wasn't the new Rose Gold color introduced with the 6s the biggest seller for that release as well? People tend to want whatever other's don't have.
  • Reply 9 of 16
    jbishop1039jbishop1039 Posts: 257member
    christopher126 said:
    It is an intriguing color. I can see why it's selling so well. Apple has always been able to make their products look like "works of art!" Which I think they are. I think Jonny wants the iPhone to be a rounded piece of black glass w/ no ports and no buttons. Same w/ the iPad, Apple Watch and the ATV. Then eventually MacBooks and IMacs. No aluminum, just black glass front and back, with the "Dark" OS's. Glass trackpads and keyboards, too.


    Seems like that could be the direction he's headed. Which is strange, considering in a book I've read about him, he has a self professed obsession with white. Makes all of his prototypes in white and loves the look of products in that color. It's been a staple of Apple's design since, well, he took over. Nice to see a change in direction though.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    sirlance99sirlance99 Posts: 1,293member
    sog35 said:
    boredumb said:
    The only way this can be accurate is if Apple severely underproduced jet black relative to its production of the other colors.
    Otherwise, the shipping times would clearly disprove it.  I have to believe Apple wouldn't underproduce it intentionally, since they are
    pretty savvy about what is going to attract the most attention.  Which would only leave "production problems" to explain the ubiquitous,
    "ships in November", compared to "ships 2-3 weeks" in every other color and size from every carrier.
    Nope.

    If there are 30 million orders of Jet Black iPhones, than ships in November makes sense. This is a case of heavy demand not production problems.

    Apple and its vendor won't install new assembly lines just to make sure everyone gets their Jet black iPhones in the next few weeks. This isn't a production problem. Its a capacity problem. They can only make so many iPhone Jet Blacks each day.

    Apple probably can only produce 500,000 Jet Black iPhones a day, maybe less.
    If demand is 30 million that will take 60 days, less the intial batch of phones.
    Apple could buy double their assembly line machines to produce 1,000,000 phones a day, but that would be CRAZY expensive and would only be beneficial for about a  month, until the intial surge stops.
    Where the heck are you getting 30 million from? There is no way Apple has 30 million preorders.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    bellsbells Posts: 140member
    rogifan_new said:
    sog35 said:
    Lets say you are selling raisin cookies.

    You can produce 1000 cookies a day with the ovens you own.

    Then one day you get a HUGE order to make 10,000 cookies. What would you do?

    Would you buy 10x more ovens to produce those 10,000 cookies in one day to please the customer? HELL NO.

    You would take 10 days to bake the cookies and then give it to the customer. 

    Apple is in the same situation.
    There is MASSIVE initial demand for the Jet Black phone. I could guess it could be at 20-30 million orders. 
    Does Apple have enough 'ovens' to produce 30 million Jet Black phones in a month? HELL NO.
    And no way in hell are they going to double or triple their 'ovens' to make sure they can meet demand in the next few weeks. Because this heavy demand of 30 million Jet Black phones needed in 2 weeks is only temporary.

    Apple does not have a production problem
    they have a too much demand 'problem' 
    If demand is this high why did Apple decide not to disclose? Are they worried if someone is given a November ship date they might cancel their order?
    Easy because the numbers don't reflect anything useful and are only used to manipulate the stock.

    It can be assumed Apple sold every phone it made, and that is all Apple reported in the past. Apple didn't report orders that didn't ship to a customer even if the customer ordered the phone because Apple only records a sale when the phone ships.  

    I preordered on TMobile. My phone isn't shipping until November. Apple in the past wouldn't have counted my order as a sale until it bills me when the phone ships.

    So Apple wisely changed its policy knowing the figures only showed what Apple was capable of shipping, not the demand.

    For instance if Apple produced less phones leading up to release than in the past, and sold every one releasing the number would likely be used to suggest demand was low when maybe the issue was only Apple couldn't produce as many leading up to launch as in the past and demand is actually higher.
    Deelronwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 16
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member
    Glossy White will be another hit next year for 7S, I bet ya. Let's wish White Ceramic like Apple Watch. People will line up for it again.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 16
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    boredumb said:
    The only way this can be accurate is if Apple severely underproduced jet black relative to its production of the other colors.
    Otherwise, the shipping times would clearly disprove it.  I have to believe Apple wouldn't underproduce it intentionally, since they are
    pretty savvy about what is going to attract the most attention.  Which would only leave "production problems" to explain the ubiquitous,
    "ships in November", compared to "ships 2-3 weeks" in every other color and size from every carrier.
    You have to believe? I think Apple is still in business of selling and making profits, why they want to intentionally underproduce the product that they promote most on stage? Unless Apple is out of their mind, I see zero reasons to do that. If anything, the only explanation of short supply for the Jet Blacks comes to 2 things:
    1. Extreme Demand
    2. Limited by tech = difficulty to produce in en mass in short time
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 16
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    kevin kee said:
    boredumb said:
    The only way this can be accurate is if Apple severely underproduced jet black relative to its production of the other colors.
    Otherwise, the shipping times would clearly disprove it.  I have to believe Apple wouldn't underproduce it intentionally, since they are
    pretty savvy about what is going to attract the most attention.  Which would only leave "production problems" to explain the ubiquitous,
    "ships in November", compared to "ships 2-3 weeks" in every other color and size from every carrier.
    You have to believe? I think Apple is still in business of selling and making profits, why they want to intentionally underproduce the product that they promote most on stage? Unless Apple is out of their mind, I see zero reasons to do that. If anything, the only explanation of short supply for the Jet Blacks comes to 2 things:
    1. Extreme Demand
    2. Limited by tech = difficulty to produce in en mass in short time
    Yes, and I said they would NOT do so intentionally...in fact, you seem to be refuting most of what I said by...repeating it???
    You do understand the difference between "yes" and "no" terms, rightwrong?
  • Reply 15 of 16
    ackpfftackpfft Posts: 38member
    Sprint back orders as of Tues... clearly struggling to stock the Jet Black...


    The processing of your recent Sprint order is pending for one of two reasons:
    • All or a portion of your ordered items are on backorder. 
    • The items you pre-ordered have not arrived in our warehouse.

    Please note - The devices below will deliver as early as 9/16
    • iPhone 7 32GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 32GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 32GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 32GB-Rose Gold
    • iPhone 7 128GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 128GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 128GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 128GB-Rose Gold
    • iPhone 7 256GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 256GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 256GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 256GB-Rose Gold

    Please note - The devices below ship by 9/23. Delivery takes 1-3 business days after shipping
    • iPhone 7 Plus 256GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 Plus 256GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 Plus 256GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 Plus 256GB-Rose Gold

    Please note - The devices below ship by 9/30. Delivery takes 1-3 business days after shipping
    • iPhone 7 Plus 32GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 Plus 32GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 Plus 32GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 Plus 32GB-Rose Gold
    • iPhone 7 Plus 128GB-Black
    • iPhone 7 Plus 128GB-Silver
    • iPhone 7 Plus 128GB-Gold
    • iPhone 7 Plus 128GB-Rose Gold

    Please note - The devices below will deliver by 10/7
    • iPhone 7 256GB-Jet Black

    Please note - The devices below will deliver by 10/19
    • iPhone 7 128GB-Jet Black

    Please note - The devices below ship by 10/21. Delivery takes 1-3 business days after shipping
    • iPhone 7 Plus 256GB-Jet Black

    Please note - The devices below ship by 11/11. Delivery takes 1-3 business days after shipping
    • iPhone 7 Plus 128GB-Jet Black
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