Apple today announced it has sold a record-breaking nine million new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, just three days after the launch of the new iPhones on September 20. In addition, more than 200 million iOS devices are now running the completely redesigned iOS 7, making it the fastest software upgrade in history.
Both iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are available in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK. Demand for iPhone 5s has exceeded the initial supply, and many online orders are scheduled to be shipped in the coming weeks.
MacDailyNews Note: The previous all-time 3-day smartphone sales record was “over 5 million” set in September 2012 by Apple’s iPhone 5.
“This is our best iPhone launch yet―more than nine million new iPhones sold―a new record for first weekend sales,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.”
iPhone 5s redefines the best smartphone experience in the world with amazing new features all packed into a remarkable thin and light design, including the Apple-designed A7 64-bit chip, all-new 8 megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash and introducing Touch ID, an innovative way to simply and securely unlock your phone with just the touch of a finger. iPhone 5c features an all-new design, packed with features users know and love like the beautiful 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast performance of the A6 chip, and the 8 megapixel iSight camera—all while delivering great battery life.¹ iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c both offer more LTE bands² than any other smartphone in the world and include all-new FaceTime HD cameras.
iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c feature iOS 7, the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone, featuring a stunning new user interface, completely redesigned with an elegant color palette, distinct, functional layers and subtle motion that make it feel more alive. iOS 7 has hundreds of great new features, including Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop, enhanced Photos, Safari, Siri and introduces iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service based on the music you listen to on iTunes.³ Over 11 million unique listeners have already tuned in to iTunes Radio since launch with the most listened to song being “Hold On, We’re Going Home” by Drake.
Every customer who buys an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPhone before they leave the store. Customers can learn more about iOS 7 and their new device through new free workshops at all Apple retail stores worldwide. In the US, the new iPhones are available through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, select Best Buy, RadioShack, Target and Walmart stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
iPhone 5s comes in gold, silver or space gray, and is available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model.⁴ iPhone 5c comes in blue, green, pink, yellow and white and is available in the US for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) for the 16GB model and $199 (US) for the 32GB model.⁴ iPhone 5s cases are available in beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and (RED) for a suggested retail price of $39 (US) through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Authorized Apple Resellers. iPhone 5c cases are available in blue, green, pink, yellow, black and white for a suggested retail price of $29 (US) through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Authorized Apple Resellers. iPhone 4s is also available for free (US) with a two-year contract.⁴
¹ Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
² LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks, check with your carrier for details.
³ iTunes Radio is available with iOS 7 in the US.
⁴ For qualified customers.
Source: Apple Inc.
iPhone is off to a great start — we hope to sell our one-millionth iPhone by the end of its first full quarter of sales. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, July 25, 2007
Related articles:
Apple: iPhone 5 sales exceed five million units in first weekend; demand exceeded initial supply – September 24, 2012
iPhone 4S destroys sales record; over 4 million units sold in first weekend – October 17, 2011
iPhone 4 sales top 1.7 million in first 3 days; Steve Jobs apologizes for not having enough supply – June 28, 2010
Apple CEO Steve Jobs back on the job: Over 1 million iPhone 3G S units sold in first three days – June 22, 2009
Apple sells one million iPhone 3G units in first weekend – July 14, 2008
I am so touching to hear that .
Hope aapl will be reflected this properly .
AAPL will surely fall on this news. Wall Street will say that Apple did not make enough phones and can’t make enough.
YKBAID
Not this time
Its 6% up
All the comatose analists predicted sales of 5 million, at best.
There is the undeniable proof of their non existent qualification and clue about anything Apple.
There would have been far more than 5 million sold last years opening weekend but they were supply constrained, as they were again this year. Apple has been supply constrained at every launch so far. I’m not sure how they could address this and it may never be cost effective to do so, but they are losing sales due to not making enough.
Or perhaps they are increasing sales because of all the buzz created by record-breaking sales and being out-of-stock.
I don’t know if the 9M includes *orders* for the 5s (like mine) which won’t be fulfilled until October. If the 9M is actually units sold (atoms changing ownership), then they nearly doubled stock from the previous 5M launch of the 5. How many businesses would take the risk of doubling launch supply, product to product?
“What, Us Worry?”
Alfred was my hero, though I have moved on.
APPLE MADE 4 MILLION MORE than for the 5s previous record. Quit knocking them. How were they to know that demand would DOUBLE?
Well as I stated before the previous year they were supply constrained and quite possibly could have sold 9m that year had they produced enough and had them ready for sale in enough of their current markets.
It doesn’t require a lot of risk to supply more when they will all eventually sell out. Stores aren’t going to be that upset if they sit on the shelves for a week or two. They could supply around 20 million pretty safely, the main issue is the cost of ramping up production that early. That may not be feasible or even possible.
I think Apple knew there was going to be exorbitant demand, and I think they did everything in their power to provide enough phones! They want everyone to have them. I don’t think they are as concerned with being the ‘hard to find’ gadget of the year. Nine million sold proves that they did everything they could, obviously learning from
Their previous years of not being able to supply enough. It just so happens demand increases faster than output could possibly ever.
Also, Don’t forget. This was not just a US launch this time either. China probably accounted for at least 1/3 of those sales if not more. So actually, iPhone sales in the US were probably down compared to the iPhone 5 launch. Maybe the analysts forgot about this simple fact. Which just proves that they do not have a F**n clue!
Dont forget also…China Mobile, with its 600 million existing customers of which 100 million are smartphone users still doesn’t carry the iPhone. If Apple has China Mobile on opening weekend next year, watch out.
Seriously, your voting me down because I said the Analysts don’t have a F’n Clue? I’m a self proclaimed fanboy but seriously, look at the facts guys. I would have been a little worried if they said that they only sold 5.5 million iPhones this weekend. The sales had to be higher with the additional markets on opening weekend. I don’t think the analysts even considered the additional markets. So what exactly are they analyzing? I’m not dissing Apple at all! I account for 3 of those 9 million phones. So I’ll say it again, The analysts don’t have a F’n clue! The proof is in the numbers.
I think they’re voting you down because of this: “iPhone sales in the US were probably down compared to the iPhone 5 launch…”
We may never know if that’s true or not but either way, it was pure marketing skill on Tim Cooks part. Apple knows precisely what they need to do, when it needs to be done and how to do it. MS and samdung just keep throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks. Apparently, there are a lot of flies that are attracted to shit.
I’d like to see what 9 Million boxed and packaged iPhones look like. How many ships would be needed to transport them all etc. Got to be hard to make and hide that many before launch.
Aapl should go back to where it was on September 9th .
If can’t , who is gonna trust this market ? ( I don’t trust anyway)
But according to all those industry pundits, nobody was going to buy either the 5c or 5s. I guess it was just all those Apple zealots who purchased them in the first weekend. Assuredly they will sell no more for the rest of the year.
In some circles, they call it… draining the well dry. There are no more buyers of iPhones after this one weekend. Apple is more doomed now than ever before.
This is part of my reasoning. The record setting initial demand is a strong indication that the long term demand will be weak. Also, remember the margins. You do not want them to be high! Rather than a remarkably profitable company, you want them to get in the junk market. This will increase market share. These are among the reasons that the stock remains controversial.
Record setting demand, which outpaced supply, is certainly a sign of doom.
Nobody gets sarcasm on the net. The guy posts as “Wall Street Imbecile”, and still gets downvoted by idiots who think he’s serious.
——RM
MDN rating imbeciles.
I think you will find that the inability to spot sarcasm is a feature of the US, not the net
Yes, the UK are masters of irony, the US spoilt babies bawling for their mothers at the flick of a wrist
Yes, historically Apple actually sells negative units after opening weekend.
Yeah they’re screwed. iPhones only ever sell at first launch…
Anyone remember last quarter when iPhone sales surged despite being nearly a year old?
It makes me sick that no one ever remembers anything except their latest flapjaw exercise. If this is human nature, upgrade my DNA.
IIRC Apple only counts sales as those that have already been delivered to customers, i.e. any orders that can’t be fulfilled until next week or even next month, aren’t counted.
Assuredly there will be many more sales reported in the coming weeks.
I think the guy was being sarcastic. I for one will be getting mine in about a month. I hate lines, and I don’t mind waiting. Just having iOS 7 on my iPhone 5 is pretty cool. Holiday sales I would expect will be fantastic. Pretty impressive sales considering there are no buy one, get one free offers like we so often see from Apple’s insecure competitors. Maybe they should offer free concert tickets with the purchase of a new phone. Oh, right, somebody already tried that and it didn’t do a lick of good. I guess, in the end, it’s all about quality, ecosystem, service & support.
I know he was being sarcastic, I wasn’t attacking loopy_nj but the pundits who actually do think that.
I’m happily one of those who helped make history. 2/3 of my order was ready on day one: a 5c for my wife and one for my son. I was sensible enough to expect a long wait for my 5s. My 4, running iOS7, is still a great device. Until the 5s arrives, that is!
DOOMED!
Agree, the news are almost equal to Apple declaring bankruptscy. I am sure shares will fell.
Anybody notice that Apple trolls are using MDN registered names lately?
And they deserve it! Apple does not make junk…but I will admit that those old flip phones from the mid 00s were cool. But that was the past, and unlike a certain someone here *i won’t name names* I am excited for the future, and can’t wait for new possibilities. The past is…history.
TOLD YOU SO !
I’m interested to see how many are switching from Android.
Only the ones with disposable income, social aspiration, or ambition and purpose beyond pitiable self-validation and envious denigration, plain laziness, or cluelessness.
Congratulations Apple!. Good guy is always win in the end.
I was trying to tell you, concentrate of the quality of the hardware and software and the user experience and everything will take care of itself.
That being said, this Apple fan is going to hold Apple to a very high standard. I’ve detected ONE minor error in the user interface and heard about THREE others. This needs to be corrected. In addition, it seems that the Apple TV update isn’t what Apple customers are used to. Step it up guys, tell us what went wrong and what you are doing to correct it. Apple could come out better then if the Apple TV went perfect.
Don’t pay attention to these FUD spreaders. They just want to take advantage of a few missteps Apple has taken. At least when those PC vs Mac ads were “spreading FUD” as the Microsofties liked to call it, the ads had some truth to it. This is just malicious lies.
I’m not convinced he was FUD posting. Matter of fact, he even emphasised that he only found “ONE minor” error, seems like a legit concern of a legit fan to me.
My comment was not intended to be “FUD”, I’m sorry that so many took it that way.
Apple makes great products, and this weekend was absolutely extraordinary to sell 9 million units, and update over 200 million devices with a new operating system is unprecedented. I just believe that Apple customers hold Apple to a very high standard and minor problems need to be corrected. At this point it would “suck” to have a “bricked” Apple TV. Apple should just say what went wrong, even if the problems are with just a few tens of thousands of Apple TVs, out of millions and what they are doing about it. Part of being a fan is an honest opinion of what is going on. A few minor problems? Straighten them out, you’ll look good.
Sorry for any misunderstanding. It’s just that, this morning on the TV, a talking head “reported” that Apple’s stock has lost a few points because of stock issues with the iPhone 5S. This was not an ideal way to start the day, and I became suspicious of any comments the painted an inaccurate portrait of Apple. Once again, sorry for any misunderstanding.
Lame
Don’t you worry your little furry head. iOS 7.1, 7.2, etc. will be along soon enough to address what few issues that will show up. Same goes with the app developers and their wares. Unlike Android, iPhone are incredibly easy to patch and update. Your not stuck with whatever OS was on your phone at time of purchase the way fragamdroid phones are.
KILLIN IT !!!!!!!
This does not matter. You do not want huge sales, particularly when accompanied by the highest margins in the industry. I am reducing my target price.
Any doubts left about how such of this spectacular production and sales planning had to do with Tim Cook?
Well done Tim, we never doubted your brilliant prowess…
Any doubts left about how much of this spectacular production and sales planning had to do with Tim Cook?
Well done Tim, we never doubted your brilliant prowess…
Well done Steve, for appointing a worthy steward and successor!
Today’s headline
“Apple sells only 9 million iPhones first weekend, far short of analyst expectations of 9.1-100 million”
bravo
What say you Mr Analyst?
The world is flat too.
Isn’t anyone going to acknowledge the Herculean task it was to sell 9,000,000 of anything in a single weekend? . . . Don’t we all owe a sign of respect for Tim Cook’s talents and work, and the entire Apple organization for just that accomplishment. . . . And then we need to acknowledge what a triumph of design and engineering there new phones are.
I guess this validates Tim Cook as an able successor to Him. Congratulations for withstanding a BRUTAL abuse by analysts, fandroids, and even wavering erstwhile Apple users, Tim.
dd
Where is Jay Morrison, iMaki & MacFreek with their usual load of bull shit about firing Tim Cook? This level of execution in selling 9 million of anything is extraordinary. Give Tim and everyone at Apple a round of applause. Just amazing.
Apparently Apple knew exactly what they were doing, long before rumours and leaks started sprouting like weeds, removing any prospect of surprise (which is the drug that supposedly addles the minds of buyers). Apple ignored the furor and kept true to the path. Meanwhile analysts missed by a north-country mile.
I forgot to add that Apple had the bandwidth to update 200 million devices in 5 days. It is clear that someone knows what they doing.
And have them on hand to sell.
The 9million are now in the hands of customers and the transaction is complete? AMAZING!
Not exactly factual. Apple has stated in conference calls that it considers a product sold when it passes out of their control. So when a product is given to UPS and is no longer in Apple’s control it is considered sold and they bill for it. So items that are sold may not yet be in customer’s hands. Just a technicality you can add to your knowledge base.
Samsung at 1 Infinite Loop filming in vain attempt to copy.
Try to copy that, Samesung!
They’ll do better, they’ll say they sold 9,000,001 in 2 days
Just don’t ask to see proof, thats not important
Correction…Samsung will say that they shipped 9,000,001 Galaxy somethings.
You mean they sold 4.5 million and gave away 4.5 million more. Now there’s a paradigm to be proud of. They made what, $10 profit on each phone? Go Samsung. I like your strategy, I like it a lot. Looks like you’ve guys have been taking your lead from Micrisoft, smart! NOT!
Beleaguered Apple….
😉
Apple: the one and only entity whose success only increases their proximity to Doom.
“…more than nine million new iPhones sold…;” not shipped. What day does Apple 4Q end? Yesterday at midnight would have been nice.
Apple Q4 runs from July 1 – September 30
Actually, not true. Apple’s fiscal year ends at 5PM on the Saturday closest to the end of September, not on September 30th unless September 30th falls on Saturday. This year Apple’s fiscal year ends on Saturday, September 28, 2013.
Obviously, you do not read. Rectalcranialosis is a tough disease, aye? All figures from Apple in units sold has ALWAYS been actual money and physical property exchanged. Always. Any other way of accounting units sold is fraud.
So, if you want to pull your head out of your okole and read the reports, you may learn something about the company you feel you need to castigate.
If there are words there you do not understand or are unable to sound out, get your nanny to help you.
Holy crap, AAPL up $28 in pre-market trading!
How can this be? Timmy is incompetent and Apple lacks innovation…
Record sales. Analysts will interpret this to mean they are stealing sales from the future iPhone 6. Apple must be doomed.
But wait: they were selling two models, and 2 x 5 milllion = 10 million. Disappointing!
(Kidding! of course, but just wait for some clown in the tech press to reach this conclusion).
Hold on a minute: they were selling two models, and 2 x 5 milllion = 10 million. Disappointing!
(Kidding! of course, but just wait for some clown in the tech press to reach this conclusion).
It was a pleasure watching JIm Cramer this morning on CNBC backpedal about Apple. ‘How could the analysts be so wrong? We should have listened to the critics like Pogue’.
Of course the ‘critics’ speak AFTER the phones are released. Analysts spout off about all the rumors and innuendo to manipulate the price for their own greedy gains. The world has spoken and hopefully the analysts will cower, lick their wounds, and become irrelevant. (Oh yeah, and wait until the China Mobile announcement….)
Hey, where are all the FUD-spreaders today??!!!
I live the smell if victory.
Probably in the corner of their parents basement repeating the phrase as spittle drips from the corner of their mouth “this is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening” !!!
Aapl still can’t go back to where it was before September 10th .
Stock market !! A place where there is no justice only rubbish .
Unfortunately, the stock will not reflect the news. It will rise, but it will stay beaten down because they pissed off wall street.
Case in point, Wall street’s current darling, Pandora, was just reiterated at buy at Goldman Sachs last week. Pandora, after losing money, finally sqeaked out a tiny profit last quarter. More importantly, they are trading more than 30 times revenue, yet Apple, who just entered Pandora’s primary business as a side project, is still trading below the S&P average P/E ration.
It’s pathetic gross manipulation, and if more people bought apple, the stock would skyrocket.
Mission Control – We have liftoff. Engines running smoothly and delivering enormous power. ALL systems are go. Demand is off the charts. Nine Million sold on first weekend. SOLD OUT! Means there’s more demand than supply, even though Apple’s supply capability exceeds that of all other companies on the planet. Fed Ex running flat out. Tim Cook is a genius at supplying BIG demand.
We are heading into the Christmas Season, and we already know what the number one Christmas Gift will be.
New OS7 is spectacular success. Runs on all iPhones. It is FREE. Some fools don’t recognize innovation even if it slams their fannies into hamburger.
How many models of the Samsung phones have been introduced and since withdrawn? And are no longer supported? This sort of treatment destroys customer support.
Will Apple go hypersonic? The short sellers get to try to sleep on that tonight. 700 by Christmas? All systems are go!
Mission Control – Now approaching second stage ignition. Vibrations are from intense demand. Go Apple!
Imagine how cool this would be if the United States Patent Courts were worth a damn. Maybe innovation is when a South Korean steals an American Patent. This will only make sense to a P.C. user, and stupid TV commentators.
Dropping the Mother F**cking hammer on all the naysayers and Droid pushers. I just love this.
I don’t care if the stocks are up or down…All I know is that ANALyst, iHaters, Google Android nutjobs got slammed!!! hahahaha
Well, then. Maybe “we” were wrong about Apple trying to generate demand by not having pre-orders for the 5s.
Can wait to read all the negative spin by pundits to cover up their epic fail.
I would still like to know how many 5s were actually shipped and available at time of launch.
I guess the (nice) problem Apple has is to work out how many iPhones they have to produce and ship worldwide to avoid the critics slamming them for not being able to meet the demand.
To have sold 9m – means they had already doubled the last pre-announcement build numbers.
So for iPhone 6 they are presumeably going to have to some how produce 15+ million phones in complete secrecy before announcing the release date.
Well that’s easy then.
Now you know what all the robotic manufacturing is all about.
Robots can keep their non-existent mouths shut. Don’t steal pre-released product and upload photos onto the web.
Which reminds me, why aren’t there any “pre-release” photos of the new “Made in America” MacPro? Not even a hint besides Apple’s intro. Hmmmm.
Funny that.
No leaks in the good ol’ USA. Except for Apple themselves, who scored a coup by leaking the new Mac Pro themselves at WWDC. A new day is coming, in which rodents, parasites, and sneak thieves will find themselves in need of new employment. It can’t come too soon for anyone with pretensions to a civilised and fair field of competition.
I’m Apple all the way, but apart from them having another great product, could this new “swap your phone, after a year” deal, by the phone companies have helped & if so, how many of the new buyers this weekend, will contribute to another stella performance, this time next year, when they can upgrade again? I seem to think that next time might be bigger, as a lot of people are still locked in to that 2yr contract.
Now hopefully they stop giving Tim Cook a hard time. He is clearly a very intelligent and capable person.
That won’t go away soon, as the haters haven’t yet devised anything better to replace the unanswerable “Steve Jobs is gone, ergo Doom” trope.
Damn, I said they were going to sell 10 Million this time around.
Now where was my math wrong…carry the 1…hmmm…
Wait, I was way better than every analyst, maybe I have a new career?
I remember when Apple predicted they would sell 8 million iPhones the first year the iPhone was released.
I thought I was being wildly optimistic and I guessed they’d hit 8 million units. Very happy to be wrong.
-jcr
It will be interesting to see what the trade-in figures are at AT&T, Verizon et al… We know, from previous surveys, that Apple attracts a continual stream of converts from other smartphones. Apple’s share of the US smartphone market has been rising, and it seems that this trend will continue. Apple’s market share in Europe has been hampered by pricing issues, both perceived and real, and perhaps by the typical US corporate problem of failing to understand, or even pay much attention to, foreign markets. This is changing at Apple, and the inking of new distribution deals in China and Japan will help (though Apple already has a huge market share in Japan).
There is no excuse for Apple’s relatively poor performance in Europe, but I suspect that will not change until/unless Apple hire some Europeans into senior US marketing roles.
Maybe, with your vast amount of knowledge of the European Market, you should give Tim a ring and offer to work for $1 a year plus a certain percentage (to be worked out later) of the net on increased sales. You could even break it down as to the purchasing demographics of the various countries and the reduced buying power of some of the people because of austerity programmes being implemented.
To pontificate, without a solution makes you as valid as most of the piss-poor pundits that prophesy doom and gloom for Apple after each and every product announcement.
BTW: I was using a Mac when Apple was doomed. since 1984. Still in business. All because of continually poor business planning and not being in touch with the local markets – worldwide.
Are you aware that there is a greater Mac installed base per capita in Europe than there is in the US?
Go figure.
It is reported that, responding to critics persistently calling for his head, Apple head Tim Cook pointed to the iPhone Sales scoreboard.
Question: Why doesn’t Apple reveal how many units it has shipped?
Answer: Because there’s usually nothing left to ship! 😀
Question: Why does the Apple share price go down?
Answer: Because analysts’ expectations are designed to always stay ahead of actual sales!:-D
But even they can’t predict what the actual results will be. They expect too much.
F@ck you apple!
you made me look bad, I had doom predictions but you threw egg in my face!
Next time I’ll MAKE SURE you fail ESTIMATES!
I estimate apple will sell 30 million phones next launch! (ha when thye fail to make that the stock will tank and reward my short selling pals!)
also Apple must make 200 billion for Christmas sales (4 times normal! ha!) or else it’s an EPIC FAIL and Apple is doomed.
as of now FIRE TIM COOK, he’s so incompetent that he couldn’t prepare for the possibility of 9 million sales so he’s out of stock! and people dare to call him supply chain genius! Short Aapl NOW!
Your expectations are not realistic. That’s why there’s a “consensus” forecast.
Sarcasm and funny, too.
Yeah, Apple!! Slammin!
Way to get those gold iPhones out quickly! I may not have had it day one but they were quick to get me one and even quicker to exchange. So happy!! The gold is truly amazing!!
Seriously, amazing. This is an unheard of number that I think benefitted strongly from a launch in China. I’m so sick of the pundits, what does Apple need to do to shut them up?? Go out of business? Lol… So proud to be an Apple Fanboy today!!! Nothing but the best from these guys, Steve cultivated a legacy and I have faith on every single person at Apple!
What happened? Didn’t The Street have higher expectations about the first weekend sales than the actual results so the stock should be crashing instead of going up? Interesting. I guess The Street screwed up there, eh?! Well, I’m sure The Street will come up with something else so they can make the stock collapse so day-traders can buy low and sell high when they spin some story to make that happen.
Well, All I want to know about the new iPhone 5s is this… WILL IT BLEND?
analysts are wrong frequently: they overestimate and underestimate:
they underestimate Apple
and overestimate Apple’s competitors.
for the last 20 years.
I just had an awful buying experience at the Dallas Northpark Apple store. I stood in line for 2 hours this afternoon/evening just to get (1) into the store, and (2) to the head of the line where I was able to place my iPhone order with the fellow who was proctoring the line at its head. If that where the problem, I’d be ok with it. But that’s only the beginning. My phone arrived from “the back of the store” after only 5 minutes of waiting … but, was I expeditiously paired up with a “genius” to complete the upgrade/set-up process? NO.
Rather, we just stood there … WAITING. The guy proctoring the line took orders from others in line, and their phones arrived after only a few minutes, too, but then he just held onto them while we all just stood there … WAITING. A full 50 minutes passed while not a single iPhone 5s or 5c was sold to those who were standing in that line, WAITING. The fellow ahead of me had placed his order, his phone had swiftly arrived, and he was immediately paired up with a “genius” to process his order and was out of there in just 15 minutes. But, then, there seemed to be a SNAFU in the process because there was NO “genius” available to process my setup and sale … nor the set up and sales of any of those behind me in line. What about the “genius” that helped the guy ahead of me? Did he come back over and get another customer from the line? NO … that “genius” was called off to sell a MacBook Pro! Instead, I and everybody else in that line just stood there — WAITING — for another 35 minutes.
50 minutes after my iPhone arrived from the back of the store, when I had just about had enough of the waiting game and was about to leave, counting the nearly 3 hours as wasted time that I’d never get back, FINALLY a blue-shirted “genius” slouched out from the back of the store and over to take my phone and begin the upgrade/set-up process.
And what was the stated reason why I just stood there at the head of that line while the guy proctoring it and taking orders stood there and did nothing? As it turns out, the Northpark store in Dallas only had 3 “geniuses” tasked with selling iPhones … and NONE were available — NONE — for 50 minutes. They were either helping other customers who had purchased online and had come in to pick up their phones, or they were helping people buy Macbook Pros and iPads, or — as was the case with about half of the blue-shirted “geniuses” — they were just standing around, chatting with each other and wandering the store looking for something to do … all the while, IGNORING us. It was infuriating.
SO … WARNING … if you go to the Dallas Northpark Apple Store to purchase an iPhone 5, expect for your wait to be HOURS … even after you get to the front of the line and are expecting to complete your purchase. It was pathetic.
S selling very nicely, C not looking so good. Check out the article from SMH:
“Fairfax Media spoke with staff and managers of several large telco stores in Sydney and other regions of NSW on Monday and found many had sold less than five of the 5c model since Friday, with some failing to sell any.
They spoke on the condition of anonymity due to strict contractual arrangements with Apple.
Only 14 iPhone 5c models had been sold at the seven stores that divulged numbers. Another two stores that didn’t divulge figures said the 5c wasn’t selling well and that they had “plenty” in stock.”
I’m not too surprised to see 5C underperforming against 5S, after all you buy an iPhone because you want the best so a ‘cheap’ iPhone is a contradiction in terms as far as I’m concerned – I’m thinking Apple might have a white elephant on their hands.