May 20, 2013 - 04:00 PM EDT — AAPL: 442.93 (+9.67, +2.23%) | NASDAQ: 3498.965 (+33.722, +0.97%)

Analyst: Apple’s Map debacle won’t slow iPhone sales

Monday, October 1, 2012 · 9:31 am · 25 Comments

“It’s great that Apple apologized for releasing a new Maps app that disappointed its customers. But it didn’t have to,” John Paczkowski reports for AllThingsD. “Demand for the iPhone 5 continues to surge, and according to a number of observers, Apple’s Maps app debacle hasn’t slowed it at all. Nor will it, most likely.”

“Piper Jaffray analyst Eugene Munster recently surveyed 20 Apple Stores in the United States. He found iPhone 5 inventory in just four of them,” Paczkowski reports. ” Those four stores were located in smaller cities, and the few iPhone 5 units they had were for Sprint. His take on Apple’s mapping misstep? It’s not causing much user backlash.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Lynn Weiler" for the heads up.]

Categories: News

Tags: Apple Maps, Gene Munster, iPhone 5, iPhone 5 demand, iPhone 5 supply, iPhone 5 unit sales, mapping, maps, Piper Jaffray

Thank You for supporting MacDailyNews!

 Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i7 2.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Mac OS X Lion (Z0ND-20GHZ8GB512) only $2,159.99
 Secret Sale Exclusive for MacMall Valued Customers Only
 Apple 15.4" MacBook Pro (with Retina display) quad-core Intel Core i7 2.3GHz/16GB RAM/256GB FS/IntelHD Graphics4000/OS X Lion (Z0MK-15-2.3-16-256RT) only $2,333.99
 Apple Blowouts: Up to $649 OFF on Last Gen Macs. Prices start at $1,999.99 w/ Free Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion & Free FedEx Overnight ends 02/08 6:15PM PST.
 Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro dual-core Intel Core i7 2.9GHz, 8GB RAM, 750GB 5400-rpm hard drive, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Ships with Mountain Lion (MD102LL/A) only $1,419.97

Comment Feed

25 Comments

Arnold Ziffel

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 9:42 am · Reply

“Debacle?”

Get over it, oh “wise and all-knowing” SteveJack.

Sheesh.
- twimoon1
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 9:59 am · Reply
  
  ^ this
- silverhawk1
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:10 am · Reply
  
  I’m thinking MDN made have a new owner in the last few months. The writing style is totally different. I hope Google didn’t buy MDN.
- tbone
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:23 am · Reply
  
  Agreed, oh porcine one.
mossman

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 9:59 am · Reply

That’s short-sighted analysis. Of course an apology wasn’t needed to keep iPhone 5 sales up. It’s a PR thing: 1) expectations of iOS6 maps are lowered for anyone yet to try them, and 2) acknowledging an issue now, restores some measure of good will, necessary to keep sales of *future* iPhones as high as possible.
PerfectStranger

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:00 am · Reply

Debacle? Listen, you have to ask yourself if the struggle to free yourself( in this case US literally as well as Apple) from those who seem to need to know not only what URLs you visit and places you go but seem to have an interest in how many pieces of toilet paper you use per day.If this struggle is worth having a little trouble depicting on a map some places that the vast majority of people on the planet have absolutely no interest in then it’s just a molehill. If on the other hand you will make a mountain of it and care to side with those who would blatantly steal IP( GooGhoul) and dilute the essence of true innovation then keep buying your 2 for ones. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking for one second that the 5 isn’t the greatest achievement in the smartphone category there ever was( at least until the 6 comes along).
- Arnold Ziffel
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:16 am · Reply
  
  “GooGhoul” – great one. I’m going to use that if it’s OK with you.
  - DanoX
    
    Monday, October 1, 2012 - 2:44 pm · Reply
    
    +1 Me to.
BoC

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:08 am · Reply

This whole map “debacle” is nothing but a tempest in a passport.

The smelly debacle is soley for the benefit of writers and blogs that need to publish something other than “the iPhone 5 is really great”.

The average iPhone user doesn’t worry about maps, because he already knows if Apple’s map doesn’t give him the info, he can get it on the web browser or another app. Geesh!
- silverhawk1
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:13 am · Reply
  
  Perhaps teacup or teapot?
Laughing_Boy48

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:08 am · Reply

I wouldn’t trust Gene Munster’s numbers for anything, especially after the iPhone’s Lost Weekend. Debacle or not, Wall Street has it in for Apple and nothing Apple does is going to change anything. Already the articles are flying that Apple won’t be able to sell a single iPad Mini because Google will be dropping the prices of their Nexus tablet to $99. What gets me is that Wall Street is jacking up Google’s share price even if Google’s hardware margins disappear. How is selling a $99 tablet at a loss good for Google? Apple’s tablet price model seems to be very sound but Wall Street believes that both Amazon and Google undercutting iPad prices will seriously harm Apple’s tablet sales. I have to question how many consumers actually trust the quality of dirt cheap tablets.
- Abdullah
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 1:08 pm · Reply
  
  Those who are willing to spend only $99 on a tablet would not buy an iPad anyway. And those who are willing to spend $600 or so on a tablet will buy nothing but an iPad. That’s why a succession of “iPad killers” ended up being suicide bombers, killing both themselves as well as the companies that made them.
tbone

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:25 am · Reply

I just tested the new Maps app. It says I’m here. No problem. Let’s get back to work now.
FTB

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:32 am · Reply

“His take on Apple’s mapping misstep? It’s not causing much user backlash.”

i’d say most of the “user backlash” is from Android sufferers seeing this as a way to bash Apple. or in other words… spreading FUD.

Used Maps this weekend, i survived.
I used the navigation to find a place we have never been before… guess what? Apple’s Maps had it wrong… we “arrived” at our destination… 30 feet after we actually did. the horrors….
Ballmer's left nut

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:33 am · Reply

Maps is a PR debacle. They could have labelled it ‘beta’ and got away with it. As it is they said it was the ultimate promised land of maps, the milk & honey of maps, which over-promised and under-delivered. Not only that but they removed Google maps which was totally unnecessary in the overall scheme of things.

Can the iPhone get these right:

- Not hearing an audible alert tone emitted from the phone speakers on receipt of push email, SMS and notification alerts when the Bluetooth headset is paired.
- Not having a decent file system in which to store, sort and locate saved files.
- Not being able to attach files to emails.
- Not being able to adjust font size in mail individually without invoking accessibility global settings.
- DanoX
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 2:47 pm · Reply
  
  -2
m159

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 10:47 am · Reply

I’ve used Apple’s map app almost daily and so far have not had any errors. I must be extraordinarily lucky, because I’ve heard complaints from others. But I was sent to the wrong place by Google maps so many times, every search with them was suspect.
The Other Steve

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 11:01 am · Reply

“Maps app that disappointed its customers”

Should have read “a small but vocal number of customers”
. . . or even “some customers” would be enough for accuracy.
Cheap sloppy reporting.
alanaudio

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 11:39 am · Reply

The problem for the people spreading FUD is that it all falls flat once people get their hands on the product and try it for themselves.

After antenna gate, people tried out the phone expecting it to fail, but in reality, they were able to make calls in places where the signal was previously too weak.

Now everybody who gets their hands on an iPhone 5 goes straight to Maps and tries checking places they know. They see for themselves that places that they try are shown correctly and while there is no shortage of people who will offer lists of places where Maps currently go wrong, the customers are discovering for themselves that the problem simply isn’t anything like as bad as the internet would have you believe.
bibleguys

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 11:42 am · Reply

You know that this “debacle” has meant that the iPhone 5 has been in the news EVERY DAY for good reasons and bad reasons without a single pause. Apple lovers continue to sing its praises, while haters talk about its shortcomings. Meanwhile NO ONE is talking about any other phones.
Derek

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 12:20 pm · Reply

Try using maps in Japan. Google maps allowed people without language to navigate Tokyo with easy. Getting through the web of train systems– a breeze. Finding places on a street system which was to keep people out–defeated with Google. Now… Ha Ha Ha Ha. Google’s work was exceptional.

Word is getting out in Japan and people are not buying because of this. Getting the 4S was madness at the stores. Don’t see the same now! No talk among Japanese about buying a phone for that one cm extension for an extra $700. Oooh! Let me summarize CRAP AP. I am surprised it does not emit an stinky odor from my phone. Best keep that in my pocket. Now I can crap my pants and blame it on the phone. Convenient scapegoat!
- kingmel
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 1:40 pm · Reply
  
  What? You must be joking…
needham

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 12:31 pm · Reply

Nice to see good feedback and enthusiasm from iMaps users. I just wish that Cook the apologist share the same enthusiasm and faith in the product and the product team who could use a word of support and encouragement from him for their hard work on a respectable version 1 of the product.

Cook’s unnecessary and showy apology is designed to prepare public opinion and set the stage for his next move to sack Forstall. Clueless bloggers like Philip Elmer-Dewitt and his ilk have already taken the bait to release articles bad mouthing Forstall and calling for his termination.
- DanoX
  
  Monday, October 1, 2012 - 2:49 pm · Reply
  
  Tim made the mistake of listening to the small Squealing Geek crowd, and not the people.
DNA

Monday, October 1, 2012 - 1:11 pm · Reply

One word:
Waze.