Apple Store Crowds at the NYC Flagship … More than a gimmick!
When the news came of ‘record lines’ at Apple’s NYC store, it felt like a contrived move for headlines – and it probably was. But while that seemed like a desperation move, Apple’s press release today is a triumph of the continued consumer demand for the iPhone. The iPhone 5c and 5s sold over 9 million units in the opening weekend!
In the press release, Apple highlights a few interesting numbers from the last several days:
– The 9 million sales are just the iPhone 5s and 5c, and happened in spite of constrained supply, particularly of the coveted Gold 5s.
– More than 200 million people are now using iOS 7, which Apple calls the “fastest software upgrade in history”.
– More than 11 million individual users have already used iTunes Radio, which is a great adoption rate – especially since the service is US only right now! Having used it … I’m tremendously impressed.
The 9 million this year compares with 5 million last year for the iPhone 5 and 4 million for the 4S. With very few exceptions any device maker would be thrilled to sell 9 million over the product lifetime – let alone in the opening weekend.
So … did you get an iPhone 5s or 5c this weekend? Or did you check out any of the crowds? What do you think?
Image from CultOfMac
I’d be interested in two breakdowns: 5C vs. 5S, and how many iPhones 5S/Cs were sold in China vs. iPhone 5 launch markets. I suspect that most—if not nearly all—of the increased sales came from China.
Well … a couple of things:
– The 5s apparently outsold the 5c >3:1 at least in the US.
– China sold ~2 million iPhone 5s on launch day … so I would assume at least that many. But think that indicates an overall uptick in launch weekend buys on a directly comparable basis.
>The 5s apparently outsold the 5c >3:1 at least in the US.
Ouch. That would be a pretty good reason not to brag about their pre-order numbers like they usually do. As for the China numbers, I wonder what effect (if any) it’ll have on sales for the rest of the year… There’s also the grey market to consider: an off-contract 5S in Hong Kong is considerably cheaper than in China.
Well, I would also bet that the 5c this year sold better than the 4S last year – thereby validating their ‘refresh’ approach.
But the whole – limited pre-orders, push the lines thing smacked of gamesmanship.