“DigiTimes reported in early October when the iPhone 6 devices were still not available in China, that Apple was adjusting its supply ratios for its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus due to stronger than expected demand for the iPhone 6 Plus globally,” Ninelu Tu and Steve Shen report for DigiTimes.
“Apple now also sees strong demand for the iPhone 6 Plus in China after the vendor began to sell its iPhone devices in China starting October 17, indicated the sources,” Tu and Shen report. “As a result, Apple may be forced to shift more production capacity to the 5.5-inch model, said the sources, adding that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus supply ratio is likely to change to 55:45 from 70:30 or 65:35 set originally.”
Read more in the full article here.
“While Tim Cook said on yesterday’s earning call that, ‘It’s very difficult to gauge demand without first finding the balance,’ you’ve got to think the company should’ve realized that a larger-screen ‘phablet’ iPhone was going to be met with high demand,” Luke Dormehl writes for Cult of Mac. “Still, lesson learned.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Better a lesson learned late than never. From here on out, with the mistakes of the past now finally behind them, the sky’s the limit for Apple!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple shifts order ratio to hugely popular iPhone 6 Plus, away from iPhone 6 – October 7, 2014
Samsung is running scared of Apple’s hot-selling, 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus – September 29, 2014
Re/code reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘A statement phone,’ not a ‘plastic toy’ – September 17, 2014
The Telegraph reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘It’s peerless’ – September 17, 2014
For Apple, a bigger iPhone has never been more crucial – January 3, 2014
You will always underestimate the most popular device. It seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.
So far, Gold iPhone 5s, now iPhone 6 Plus. Next year, can’t wait to find out. 😛
You’d think that Tim, of all people, would get it: Size matters.
That depends if Tim is a top or a bottom.
Keep up the good works Apple, and importantly don’t sleep in your victory.
Some people wish for an iPhone 5S size with the processor of an iPhone 6
“with the mistakes” What “mistakes”? If Apple had the smaller iPhone 6 sitting on a shelf in inventory unable to sell them, that would be a “mistake”. The balance is being established as sales in different areas are defined. You adjust based on the orders and their back logs. That is called manufacturing. Having all the products in the correct mix in the correct place on day one is called a miracle or act of God!
The mistake is that the bigger iPhones should have started with the iPhone 5, at least.
Apple let millions upon millions of potential customers go to another platform in search of usable sized screens instead of making the iPhone users from the start. Now they have to spend time and marketing money to convince and convert users off fscking Android and onto the iPhone where they should have been and would have been had Apple had a properly sized iPhone display available when it was required. Apple knows they blew it. The internal Apple documents revealed in court prove it:
Apple in April 2013: ‘Customers want what we don’t have’
It wasn’t a “mistake”. It’s not like the 5 and 5S sales suffered. In fact, those models also had record sales. And there are people who prefer that form factor. People upgrade every 2~3 years anyway so the customers that Apple supposedly “lost” during those years are coming to Apple now after the larger form factor has been perfected. Gotta look at the long-term and the big picture, which is exactly what Apple is doing.
Obviously, judging by the reaction to the 6/6 Plus, and Samsung’s huge sales prior to the iPhone 6/6 Plus, the iPhone 5/5s sales suffered. Just because 5/5s sales were good doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have been much better. iPhone 6/6 Plus sales bear this out. The customers that Apple gave away due to their mistake are harder to recoup once they’re on another platform as opposed to having been acquired initially.
Apple couldn’t keep up with the demand for the 5/5S initially either. As Tim Cook mentioned earlier, Apple waited until they got it right. People are deserting Fragmandroid in droves right now and I can see that personally amongst friends and acquaintances. SameDung is in a free fall now. Sometimes it’s okay to lose a few battles to win the war.
Therefore you agree that Apple made a mistake and was late with bigger iPhones.
Nope, Apple followed their script and plan and milked everything they possibly can out of the 5/5S while building up demand for the larger phones and now Apple will have the mother of all quarters. From a military strategy perspective, it was more of a concession of territory for a little while to the enemy until you are in an advantageous position to go in for the kill and get that territory back.
So, what happens next go ’round? I seriously doubt I’ll be lining up to replace my iPhone 6 Plus 128GB even 3 years from now. I’m all set, finally, thanks.
I’m sorry, but I just can’t agree with this line of reasoning. I, like many others have been using Apple products since the IIe, and this was because I understood the Apple philosophy and agreed with such in principal…. Great products built well focused on usability and good taste. I don’t believe anyone will ever have to be cajoled, tricked, or otherwise placated to invest in Apples design and usage philosophy. Those who reluctantly settled for inferior products due to a lack of Apple presence in that sphere of markets, will inevitably come to Apple once Apple enters that market, those pleased with their choice, … well,… won’t, nothing lost either way.
The iPhone 5C out sold the Samsung S5… Lack luster sales, uh… Shipments. Samsung has had poor sales in the premium market. Most of Samsung huge sales is with the bottom feeders in the smartphone world, like the Galaxy Y.
Apple does not compete in the lower end market or low smart / phone in developing countries.
Best to leave out all areas Apple has no presence and all low end phone sales. That will define an accurate number.
Remember most top brands are out sold by popular brand names. However, the top brand are only in chosen markets and with defined profit levels.
Samsung’s huge sales? Citation needed! Did you not see that Samsung just announced a SIXTY PERCENT CONTRACTION in earnings? Samsung is giving 2-for-1 deals on phones. Samsung is getting its clock cleaned by Apple, before the 6’s ever shipped.
So many assumptions. First, the article is about the 6 and 6 Plus manufacturing ratio. What would it be it Apple also made an ApplePay iPhone in the smaller 5 size? I ordered a iPhone 6 for my wife only because it was the smallest iPhone that could use the NFC feature required for ApplePay.
Make 3 sizes of iPhone that all can use ApplePay and we will see what the mix ratio really is. Apple isn’t done with this and Steve Jobs didn’t want a bigger iPhone. Steve may have been correct. However, this is also about cutting off Samsung’s pirated sales that were only based on the size of the screen. Steve Jobs may have also done this to go Thermonuclear on all Android phones if he were here today.
It is next to possible to predict what mix of product will be like. The only sure way is to make adjustments once the initial sales data are in.
Also don’t forget that each product has different ramp up success. The 6 plus has reportedly been harder to make and this is likely to be a contributing factor.
This is a good problem to have and apple are the best at being able to deliver high quality products in such volume.
Should receive my 6 Plus in a week or two. After a few return trips to the Apple Store and checking out the 6 and 6 Plus side by side, I was convinced the 6 Plus is the way to go for me. I had told my wife (petite at 5-3 and around 100) that I thought the 6 Plus would be too big for her and the 6 would be better. Well, she finally made a visit to the Apple Store recently and said it was no contest: 6 Plus. Her best friend (also very petite), who has a Note 2, said she’ll be getting the 6 Plus when her SameDung contract runs out. So there you go.
Predicted this. People love their screen real estate. You can do real work with it too.
When I want a big screen I reach for an iPad or Mac. It’s more important for me to have a phone that is nearly always with me in my pocket while walking, running, skiing, sailing, cycling, gardening and at the gym. A big phone such as the plus is much more difficult to do that with. Sure, different people have different needs, but my observation is that more sedentary people opt for the big phone with the big screen while more active people want a phone they can easily carry in a pocket when on the go. While my 6 screen is great when I’m actually looking at it, the rest of the time I’d love a 5s size with the guts of the 6. And frankly, watching people make calls with a 6+ to their ear is faintly ludicrous.
At 100, I’m glad she has the dexterity in her fingers to still use a phone.
The author, Monday-morning-qurterback, faults Apple for being imperfect in their prognostication. But it’s not just about prognostication, it’s also about actually manufacturing all of those iPhones and all of the screens that go in to them. Recall that Apple is using a new technology here to create screens that are exceedingly thin, with fewer layers than conventional screens. And until Apple’s suppliers can increase their yield of screens in the larger size, the demand will not be satisfied, even if someone (like our Monday-morning-quarterback) could perfectly prognosticate.
It doesn’t require new technology to simply make a bigger screen.
I think the only thing they underestimate is how much people will pay to have the best. Apple could make the gold iPhone 6+ out of actual gold and people would still buy it. Even though they will buy another one in two years time.
From iPhone 5s to iPhone 6 Plus. If on T-Mobile can fill their Backorder.
(Bloodbath)
Ah, all the geniuses here who have run enormous consumer electronics firms. Did it ever occur to you bozos that Apple has been breaking away from Samsung as a supplier of components for obvious reasons? Did it ever occur to you bozos that there simply might not be enough manufacturing capacity in the world to do what Apple does, even with its top supplier? What Apple is doing has never been done before.