MacDailyNews Take: So this is what 258 random people in downtown Minneapolis think, just to be crystal clear.
• Antenna problem: 177 respondents, or 69%, indicated that they were aware of iPhone 4 quality issues. Of those who are aware of the antenna issues, 20% indicated that they impacted their purchase decision.
• Verizon problem: The lack of an iPhone on Verizon is holding sales back by about three times more than the antenna issue.
• Worst case scenario: “In order to quantify a worst-case scenario, we estimate that 40% of all iPhone sales are domestic (was 38% in the June quarter). We are modeling for Apple to sell 11m iPhones in the Sept. quarter, implying about 4.4m domestic sales.
Full article, with the complete survey results, here.
MacDailyNews Take: All cellphones attenuate. There is no “Antenna problem.” It was a smear campaign. FUD. Anyone who didn’t buy an iPhone 4 for that “reason” got manipulated by Apple’s inferior competitors and anti-Apple media types, including some who seem to have perpetuated the story out of misplaced “revenge.” The good news is that 80% of 258 cellphone-using downtown Minneapolitans aren’t gullible saps.
And, no, P.E.D., nothing in your report backs up the headline under which it runs. “Impacted” isn’t the same as “stopped.” Maybe they thought about it for more than 2 seconds, realized it was bullshit, and went to get themselves the best pocket computer, sorry “smartphone,” ever created.
As for the “Verizon problem,” iPhone will be on multiple carriers in the U.S. soon enough. Maybe even on Verizon.
If there are any extra iPhone 4s down there not being sold, send them up here to Canada. It is nearly impossible to get one here. The flagship store in Toronto has been without any for two days now. And when they have a few the line up winds around the mall! We need more.
Probably couldn’t supply both Verizon and AT&T anyway. Maybe the stall on other carriers is partly an attempt to ramp up
Also, they could use a copy editor, who certainly would not let them use “impact” as a verb.
I waited almost a month for my 4. Lots of my friends can’t get their hands on one yet. Please, please don’t sell it at Verizon to spare a few more to the poor souls in Hong Kong.
I’ll buy multiple iPhones when and if they get to T-Mobile.
In Australia they are out of stock. I don’t know anyone with an Andoid phone. Unlike the US, companies here only develop local apps for the iPhone. It’s a monopoly.
@Leif, that ship has sailed. Impact is a verb simply because we all use it that way. Words is what we use them as : )
Tell whoever can’t get one to move if it’s that important. It’s a sample folks. What # would make you happy in the sample size.
Apparently Stevo didn’t think vzw folks would ever be ready(them ans their network) so he signed on with ATT for what look to be as long a marriage as the 10 yr war.
Come on Steve… Nobody signs on that long. Put out the frickin vzw and the rest of the gsm carriers.
(FYI I’ve had AT&T since it was Cingular, but doesn’t mean that I can’t empathize)
The lack of an iPhone on Verizon is holding sales back
Yeah. I read about this in “Water is Wet” magazine.
How can selling through more channels increase sales when there is not enough supply? Waiting time for iPhone 4 is still 2-4 weeks in many parts of the world.
I know folks love to trash AT&T, but our iPhone service has been excellent (except for initial set-up during the launch of iPhone 2G three years ago). If iPhone had been launched with Verizon or any other company, we’d be hearing the exact same complaints about them we have heard about AT&T.
@MDN: “The good news is that 80% of 258 cellphone-using downtown Minneapolitans aren’t gullible saps.”
Actually, not: only 80% of the 177 respondents who knew of the antenna issue can be said to fit that description; the rest of the 81 respondents may or may not prove to be “gullible saps” in the same proportion.
The fact that the latter didn’t even know there was an “issue” indicates they were not paying any attention at all to the iPhone 4 release. This might suggest that they’d be more susceptible to the FUD creeping into the mainstream press.
there is an antenna issue (although i always thought the real bitch was the proximity sensor) i’ve had to just send my third back.
and if there wasnt a problem apple wasted a lot on the case programme!
i thought it was strange they even show the 3gs atennuation and other models that drop from 5-3 bars 4-1 bar etc
not the iPhone 4 dropping from 5-0 bars though.
Dont get me wrong love apple but sick of hearing crap like there isnt any issue at all because clearly there was and still is until apple say otherwise! True it got blown out of proportion but iPhone 4 seems very hit and miss and the apple forums document loads of people with atenna faults maybe MDN should go have a look at them.
What Tom says!
How can any outside sales factors be calculated, when Apple can’t keep up with the demand even under its present situation?
They’re selling them faster than they can make them!
Hey MDN, comments like that of “no antenna issue” will certainly piss enuff people off to the point of not looking at MDN anymore as a reliable source of Apple info. What the heck are you folks turning into ? If there is no problems w/ iPhone 4 then bring your nappy azz to me and i will show you multiple problems with my now 2nd iPhone 4 !!!! Situation is I BELIEVE that a rue problem here & there after all the years of superior products is inevitable. So i will follow thru w/ my Apple Care calls & updates and wait for them to fix the various issues. Does it frustrate my wife & I at times dropping calls via our chin hanging up on them, or muting a call via our chin, or our bluetooth disconnecting intermitently whenever it wants ? ABSOLUTELY ! But the problems will be corrected. Rome wasn’t built in a day nor did it not have its flaws along the way. So stop w/ the BS, shut up & stop whining folks. After all its just a phone. 15 yrs ago your knuckleheaded azz had to come home to an answering machine full of missed calls !!!! Not to mention buy lots of paper & pens !! Sheesh what a bunch of panty-wavers !!!
Single carrier affecting sales? I think we’ve known this from day one.
I know plenty of people with Android phones, and it’s all because the iPhone is only on AT&T.
It is DEFINITELY hurting iPhone sales to only be with one carrier in the U.S.
Here’s my latest blog article on this sad state of affairs: http://scottworldblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/its-just-like-an-iphone/
Grrr another American catachresis. “Alternate” does not mean the same as “alternative”
MDN saying there is no antenna problem needs to be read as “there is no *significant* antenna problem that is iPhone 4 unique”. ALL cell phones that do not have an extendable antenna have antenna issues. This is reality. The iPhone 4 is no exception. If you don’t believe that, you need to be taking your anti-psychotic medications. Period.
Without the “bumper” (which Apple now gives away free), or a similar device, is there a *significant* antenna issue that is iPhone 4 unique? Yes. Has this been cured? Yes. Will Apple be coming out with a hardware update to the iPhone 4 in the coming month that won’t require a “bumper”? Maybe. There are lots and lots of rumors pointing to that, but no real facts support that conclusion at this time.
With regard to the iPhone not being on Verizon limiting sales, in a word: Bull!
If you go to the online Apple store today the wait time to get an iPhone 4 shipped is three weeks. From reports I’ve read and Apple employees I’ve talked with directly, virtually every brick and mortar Apple store sells out every iPhone they get the same day the get them. I’ve never heard of an iPhone 4 sitting on the shelf more than 48 hours anywhere — literally anywhere on the planet. Most brick and mortar Apple stores have waiting lists for the iPhone 4.
With a backlog like that, it does not matter how many carriers are supported. Apple is selling every one they can make — typically before it is even made. Sales simply *CANNOT* get any higher. The iPhone 4 could be on all four major U.S. carriers, and Apple would still not sell any more iPhone 4 units than they are selling right now. Anyone claiming otherwise is lying.
Concerning “impact,” you can verb any noun.
Made a mistake posting this on a wrong thread. Hope MDN gives me a pass.
What part of sold-out do these jokers not understand. If apple is having difficulty selling the product, then the survey may mean something.
Why did munster just include a question on verizon sprint and tmobile combined is as big as verizon. Verizon must really be hurting and trying to find alternative routes to push apple into even hinting on a verizon deal to stop the bleeding. Regardless of what apple does, then next media placements will be about apple definitely releasing an iPhone in January based on analyses like munster. After that, Schumer and his I’ll will chime in. WS at it’s best.
Verizon must be hurting and are trying to bamboozle apple. Verizon is definitely putting their ad dollars to work. How many more of this sophistic analyses will we have to bear with.
@ lee,
There is no iPhone 4 antenna problem. Apple gave away free cases to cut the inevitable lawsuit off at the knees. Giving away cases cut out the middle men, the greedy Lawyers, and gave 100% of the proceeds to the customers.
Look to see Apple sidestep more lawsuits this way.
The carrier coverage and reliability trumps phone features for most folks. I travel all over the country, so Verizon is my obvious choice. When my TREO died after 3 years, my best choice was DROID X which has a built-in WiFi hotspot for up to 5 devices, an excellent browser, a good camera and a great included navagation app. It only cost $99 for a quality phone and has more than enough other very good apps. While I’m a touch, ipad and macbook pro user I wouldn’t have several of these features and would have poorer ATT performance at greater cost with the iphone. No regrets here.
No matter how many U.S. carriers have iPhone 4, Apple can’t sell them faster than they can make them. The online Apple Store “ships in” waiting time for iPhone 4 still shows “3 weeks” (and even the $99 iPhone 3GS shows “1-2 weeks” now). So whether iPhone is on only ATT or on four carriers, how can “lack of alternate U.S. carrier” be impacting current sales? It can’t…
All it will do is increase Apple’s cost of doing business by having a significantly different “Verizon iPhone” design to manufacture and support, and increase the waiting list length. What Apple needs to focus on is increasing the production capacity to a point where there is sufficient stock at all the physical retail locations. Allowing customers to walk in and immediately walk out with an iPhone will significantly increase sales without even adding the second carrier (because a lot of customers want immediate satisfaction, not a waiting list). THEN, we can talk about adding another U.S. carrier, and doing so will actually help increase iPhone sales even more.
With the new iPod touch going on sale, I have a feeling that the constraining factor is the supply (rate of production) of the Retina Display. Or with the iPod touch going on sale and plus the new Apple TV later this month, perhaps its the A4 processor too.
I’ve waited for years for Apple to open another carrier, primarily because the ATT coverage is terrible in my area. Until I can get a decent signal I guess I’m stuck with my iPod touch.