“With Apple having announced iPhone shipments far in excess of reported activations, the ongoing debate about exactly what happened to all those other “missing” units continued on Friday, with investment bank Piper Jaffray weighing in with its own explanation,” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
“According to the firm, Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones during the three-month period ending December, 2 million of which were confirmed by AT&T to have been activated on its US wireless network during that same time,” Marsal reports.”Taking a closer look at the remaining/missing 1.7 million units, analyst Gene Munster said in a research note that believes another 350,000 were sold throughout Europe during the same time period and another 838,00 were sold with the intent that they’d be unlocked.”
Marsal reports, “The end result: there are likely only several hundred thousand units unaccounted for — rather than nearly 1.5 million — because they comprise Apple’s normal level of channel inventory, estimated by Munster to be approximately 5 weeks in the case of iPhone.”
Full article here.
We now conclude coverage of one of this week’s non-stories that were ginned up in order to manipulate AAPL share prices. One thing about this week amazed us: our opinion of certain analysts and members of the media actually managed to decline to even lower levels, which we previously would have considered an impossibility. TGIF!
the polemic that Apple attracts never ceases to amaze me… regardless of whether it was contrived or not
Stop the election, it offends me!
Be careful what you wish for, I wouldn’t put it past our officials to do just that.
As for Apple and the iPhone? With the amount of ginning in today’s media, I’m surprised anyone noticed.
Good. I’m going to bed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just some of SJ “misguidance” in action.
Clearly Apple knows immediately how many sales of what and where have occurred.
Anyone who has bought anything in a Apple Store knows how detailed Apple is about everything.
If I may ask, why would it matter if /any/ iPhones are ‘missing’ ?
Apple got paid.
Now, if an entire truck of iPhones to be shipped went missing…then that would be a bit more interesting. Or at least be worthy of attention.
I second G4Dualie: I’m going to bed.
MDN is 100% correct with their comment here. I hope MDN takes notes of all these analyst and writers that succeeded in manipulating Apple stock to extremely low levels. Possibly destroying any hope of hitting the $200 plus mark. Too bad they are allowed to continue in their business without reprimands for their obvious agendas.
NeoReven is absolutely correct; the only way in which these units have gone AWOL is that they don’t contribute a residual income which increases the quite reasonable profit margins into something that – if it were another company – might be called obscene.
I don’t know what they’re putting in water in the US this year, but I get the distinct impression that a lot of people made a New Year’s Resolution to be what we in the UK call (with all respect to Jim Henson) a muppet.
This is wrong. Unlike Microsoft Apple does not report channel inventory as “sales,” they only report actual sales as sales.
The numbers Piper is using are highly dubious though and their assumptions are just ridiculous. The missing iPhones are iPhones bought by people in countries where the iPhone is not “officialy” there yet. Canada alone could easily account for about 350 to 400 thousand of them and hundreds of thousands have been sold in Asia at minimum.
I’ve read some speculation that AT&T;’s figure of 2 million may be primarily *new* accounts and wouldn’t count existing subscribers who have since added an iPhone…
Most won’t remember because they’re fairly new to Apple and the tumultuous world of being chased by the rest of the world, but a few years ago, just after Apple stock price had begun to boom, there was a major pause as investors started to freak out, thinking there was no way AAPL growth could be sustained. Months went by with little movement, then things broke out again. What had happened in the meantime is that small investors were sent looking elsewhere for their quick buck while Apple continued to grow strong. Soon, big investors jumped aboard again and that brings us to the current time.
There will be a pause now, but until Apple is the one that shoots itself in the foot, it’s a growth story. It’s profitable, makes GREAT stuff we like to use, so enjoy and don’t sweat the small stuff. The future is amazingly bright for this company– and the cool thing is that they’re now in a position to really influence everyone else. Things will get very cool tech-wise in a short time.
Star Trek, here we come!
Just follow the money in reverse that pleases the constituents…everything points to Redmond’s waning influence.
They all seem to be popping up at once, too. At least they could all communicate and agree not look so obvious.
Protect Microsoft at all costs!
Think how foolish everyone would look if Microsoft starts to fail – after all the money that’s been invested into that slag heap.
All MS supporters can chant in unison after each year that Apple post profit. “They can’t do it again” now repeat it next year – like you did the years before. AGAIN.
Who’s keeping track that MS can’t do it again?
I’m sure Apple and AT&T;(and Apple’s European carriers) know exactly how many iPhones have been sold and how many have been activated. The number is not going to match because many thousands upon thousands of iPhones were bought, not activated, and sold to people in non-US countries before the European markets came online, and to other countries outside the US and Europe.
Why are people doubting how many iPhones Apple has sold? They have to report these figures to the SEC, shareholders, etc., and the sale figures are available to shareholders who wish to examine the company’s books.
Frankly, this is a non-issue and non-story.
Actually, I can’t believe I just wasted 5 min. of my life commenting on it.
Screw the analysts, I’m going out with my wife.
Just for the record: We have 2 of those “missing” iPhones here at home.
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There was a story on how many iPhones are sent to India (and unlocked.)
I personally know several people who bought iPhones and took them to Europe.
No channel stuffing here, this is not a Zune.
I’m surprised no one has figured this out yet.
It’s Steve Ballmer. He’s taken to throwing iPhones since he’s run out of chairs!
If I’m doing the arithmetic right, yep, that accounts for all the missing ones.
This is a pic I snapped on NOVEMBER 22, 2007 while working in Vietnam.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22021035@N07/2219482846/
I was also in Beijing and Thailand and saw a stores selling iPhones there too, unfortunately I did not have a camera to get a pic.
In the silk market in Beijing there were at least 4 little stores selling iPhones. There were original and unlocked. The guys selling them would not drop below $800 US.
This can help explain some of the “missing” phones.
I have two of the ‘missing’ phones here in my house in Vancouver, Canada.
There are at least 1200 ads on Craigslist at any given time for the last 6 months selling iPhones.
There must be 50,000 in Vancouver alone.
They’re asking more than $800 in the Philippines too.
My friend just received an iPhone from USA as a birthday gift and was puzzled what means “Welcome to Your New iPhone..Let’s get started…1. Activate your iPhone with AT&T;…” all in English in Chinese iMac. I think that will be one of the missing phones. Useless. At least she can charge people 50 cents to see it, unless she goes to Beijing to get it deactivated.
Should probably say “get it activated” and leave the deactivated for the iTunes iPhone “Welcome” screen.
There are no missing posts on MDN either
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Munster is wrong (as others have noted)… to the extent Apple sells direct, inventory is inventory not sales. Only AT&T;’s (and the europeans’) inventory counts as sold.
The obvious conclusion is what we have already observed: grey market/asian demand for unlocked iPhones is huge.
That’s a plus in that people really want the phones.
It’s a minus, financially to apple, in that it’s cut of subscriber fees will be less.
Since this is a new product, I’d say the plus greatly outweighs the minus.
And at $130/share, I figure the market is valuing the entire iPhone franchise at about ZERO.
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If the momentum continues to drive the stock down, all Apple has to do is announce a share buyback and the shorts will get murdered. This also would end the discount sale on the stock.
Growth company with $22/share IN CASH. This is going to be interesting.
It isn’t just Asia that has bagged unlocked iPhones, I met someone this weekend in the UK who had an unlocked iPhone, a present from someone who had brought back a whole load from a trip to NY – before the UK launch.
All I can say about all this is so what? Apple’s results next quarter will be 30% up on the year before and it’s stores will still be full to overflowing.
Quite how the markets have dealt with Apple shares in the same manner as Motorola’s – who really are sinking, beats me!
After the almost-certain-to-be-coming Special iPhone Event, the announcement of the SDK and some new killer apps, third-party and otherwise, the news will once again change to Apple “coming back from the dead,” “Apple: Down, but not out, “Apple: Nothing’s really changed, but we need to sell papers and manipulate the markets.”
Hang in there, kids. Strong company, strong future.