iPhone 5 opening weekend sales worse than expected

[Boz]

Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5s over the opening weekend, the company announced this morning.

This is well below what Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster was calling for. He predicted 6-10 million for the opening weekend.

In fact, Munster called 6 million a "worst case scenario." So, this is worse than a worst case scenario.

The stock is down 2% in pre-market trading.

Last year Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4Ss during the opening weekend. The iPhone 5 was a major redesign, and lines were supposedly longer, so people expected bigger sales.

Analysts like Munster expected Apple to deliver huge opening weekend sales after the company announced 2 million iPhone 5 pre-orders on opening day. That was double what Apple saw for iPhone 4S pre-orders. Obviously, the weekend sales didn't follow the same pattern as the pre-orders.

We won't know the full story of iPhone 5 sales until January when Apple reports results for the holiday quarter. However, today's announcement, coupled with last quarter's earnings, suggests that the days of mega-growth for the iPhone are over.

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/IPHONE-5-OPENING-WEEKEND-SALES-COME-IN-WORSE-THAN-3889202.php#page-1

[Praetor]

it's selling as expected, nothing else.

[shockz]

There's an article already on the front page discussing this.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

Only 5 million, huh? :/

[Boz]

Only 5 million, huh? :/

Considering that at least couple of hundred thousand developers bought iPhone 5 due to different resolutions and need to have the new phone for testing, the sales show a trend that Apple's growth is gone.

[Shadrack]

Only 5 million, huh? :/

Only 5 million which is only 1 million more than the last iPhone 4S sold. Only :/. Lol. I call BS article is BS. Some analyst predicted something and it didn't come true. That's what the headline should read. But, nope, got to spin it just right so that the 2% drop in pre-market trading is correlated.

[shockz]

Considering that at least couple of hundred thousand developers bought iPhone 5 due to different resolutions and need to have the new phone for testing, the sales show a trend that Apple's growth is gone.

It's not gone, but it is leveling off. Competition is rising... both WP and Android. That doesn't mean people are throwing away their iPhones left and right, it means people have choices now. Sorry to burst your bubble but the iPhone has a large platform of mobile users and isn't going away anytime soon, and just like every other iPhone generation will become a very popular option for consumers... I mean there's already 5 million + 2(?) million pre orders being shipped. 7 million iPhone 5's being purchased in less than a month and apple shattering it's earnings every quarter shows the growth isn't gone.

[Shadrack]

Considering that at least couple of hundred thousand developers bought iPhone 5 due to different resolutions and need to have the new phone for testing, the sales show a trend that Apple's growth is gone.

What do you base that assumption on? That's basically the same as saying in order to develop for Android you need every possible hardware configuration. That's just sillyness. I'm sure that a lot of developers upgraded to the new iPhone (or *GASP* the new iPod since the screen resolution is the same). But many rely on the emulator that comes with xcode.

[Arpit]

keep it up boz...at some point in the next 10 years you'll be right, then you can scream out and say "i told you so", today isn't it.

[episode]

Complete BS. They didn't have any more phones to sell, thats why they 'only' sold 5m.

[grik]

Opinion article its all it is, 1 week 5 Million is more than any other handset sold till date. Its incredible numbers only explained by the solid environment that Apple stands for.

[Boz]

keep it up boz...at some point in the next 10 years you'll be right, then you can scream out and say "i told you so", today isn't it.

Um.. it's obvious where Apple will end up.. I said the same thing with Android and Apple fanboys said "OMG Android will never come close to iPhone".. and we see how that ended up.

Face it.. Apple has been milking the same phone for 5 years.. they are are not innovating anything, they have a stale OS and it's inevitable.

Consumers will eventually wake up and realize "Damn, I'm buying the same thing over and over again".. unfortunately consumers are slow to realize that, and that's why Apple gets away with mediocrity and marginal improvements.

[RiverCampher]

Everybody knows it's time for Lumia 920.

We shall see, for a phone that's not out yet I don't hedge my bets. I would like to see it come true, and every thing I've heard so far is pretty positive. A full in depth review is required before I purchase...

[Denis W. Veteran]

Eventually at some point their sales will hit a plateau, but given sales figures are up from the previous generation it's a bit premature to spin this as a failure.

Consumers will eventually wake up and realize "Damn, I'm buying the same thing over and over again".. unfortunately consumers are slow to realize that, and that's why Apple gets away with mediocrity and marginal improvements.

Though a considerable number of consumers deem the iPhone as sufficient for their needs. Naturally they'll switch away when their demands are no longer being met. Seems like that hasn't happened yet else we'd see much more dismal sales figures. Making assumptions that people's requirements are the same as yours is the classic "solution looking for a problem" scenario.

[123456789A]

We shall see, for a phone that's not out yet I don't hedge my bets. I would like to see it come true, and every thing I've heard so far is pretty positive. A full in depth review is required before I purchase...

As long as you're not reading a review on the Verge, you'll probably hear good things.

[AJerman]

No, the article does have a point. The iPhone 4S was a small upgrade, and more for people who hadn't bought the iPhone 4 yet, or for those who REALLY have to have the very latest. Most iPhone 4 users didn't buy an iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 though was the big redesign which should have gotten a lot more of the iPhone 4 users (2 years from last release, thus lands perfectly for those on contract), the new iPhone users, the people who upgrade every single time, etc. It should have done a lot better than 1 million more than the small refresh before it did. I think a lot of people are becoming wise to the iPhone game. The majority of people that I know who like iPhones and are knowledgeable about phones have been disappointed by the iPhone 5. There's definitely a growing group of their user base that's getting annoyed that the iPhone doesn't have features that all other phones have had for a year or more now. I suspect they're close to due to see a decline myself. To me they are starting to get that Blackberry feel where they had tons of loyal users, but they just weren't cutting it and weren't keeping the phones up to date with everything else on the market. You saw how fast Blackberry died off. If Apple doesn't do more to keep their users happy and not just give users that THEY decide they should have, it'll happen to Apple too.

[srbeen]

Considering that at least couple of hundred thousand developers bought iPhone 5 due to different resolutions and need to have the new phone for testing, the sales show a trend that Apple's growth is gone.

Developers have no software solution to emulate the new iPhone 5? Honestly? Guess that explains why the same app is $9.99 on Google Play but its $15 on iTunes (songsterr for example)

LTE which don't have good saturation right now and a tiny bit bigger screen isn't worth the additional $200 for most. a 4S will suffice as iOS has no iPhone5 specific software or hardware features (aside from res and LTE)

Plus apple ****ed off a lot of folk who had a bunch of adapters they had to buy adapters for. Plus, although very miniscule, the 5 isn't jailbroken.. which may be a deal breaker for 300,000 potential buyers.

[RiverCampher]

Um.. it's obvious where Apple will end up.. I said the same thing with Android and Apple fanboys said "OMG Android will never come close to iPhone".. and we see how that ended up.

Face it.. Apple has been milking the same phone for 5 years.. they are are not innovating anything, they have a stale OS and it's inevitable.

Consumers will eventually wake up and realize "Damn, I'm buying the same thing over and over again".. unfortunately consumers are slow to realize that, and that's why Apple gets away with mediocrity and marginal improvements.

Perhaps, and I believe your correct on the 2nd point.

There is no denying that over time, companies will innovate to iron out their issues with the OS. However, I think it's been a painful process for both Windows and Android users as they phones are kind of 'left in the dust' of new releases. Uncertainty over upgrades in Android's case (e.g. When/if my phone is getting ICS/Jelly Bean) or an entirely new OS for Windows users which locks them out of the new store.

I hope they offer greater continuity between devices in future to provide a better experience for those who don't buy a new device every 2 years.

[Shadrack]

No, the article does have a point. The iPhone 4S was a small upgrade, and more for people who hadn't bought the iPhone 4 yet, or for those who REALLY have to have the very latest. Most iPhone 4 users didn't buy an iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 though was the big redesign which should have gotten a lot more of the iPhone 4 users (2 years from last release, thus lands perfectly for those on contract), the new iPhone users, the people who upgrade every single time, etc. It should have done a lot better than 1 million more than the small refresh before it did. I think a lot of people are becoming wise to the iPhone game. The majority of people that I know who like iPhones and are knowledgeable about phones have been disappointed by the iPhone 5. There's definitely a growing group of their user base that's getting annoyed that the iPhone doesn't have features that all other phones have had for a year or more now. I suspect they're close to due to see a decline myself. To me they are starting to get that Blackberry feel where they had tons of loyal users, but they just weren't cutting it and weren't keeping the phones up to date with everything else on the market. You saw how fast Blackberry died off. If Apple doesn't do more to keep their users happy and not just give users that THEY decide they should have, it'll happen to Apple too.

FYI, iPhone 4 first weekend sales were 1.7 million. iPhone 4S was roughly what? 4 million. iPhone 5 is being reported as roughly 5 million.

I'm not sure where the logic is coming from that Apple somehow has done worse with the iPhone 5 than previous iPhones. The data certainly doesn't support it. Maybe it is based on an emerging anti-Apple ideology. Ideologies don't need supporting information.

[aviator189]

great sales, but still lower than analyst expectations .

[AJerman]

FYI, iPhone 4 first weekend sales were 1.7 million. iPhone 4S was roughly what? 4 million. iPhone 5 is being reported as roughly 5 million.

I'm not sure where the logic is coming from that Apple somehow has done worse with the iPhone 5 than previous iPhones. The data certainly doesn't support it. Maybe it is based on an emerging anti-Apple ideology. Ideologies don't need supporting information.

Oh, weird. I didn't know the iPhone 4 was only 1.7. The article omitted that part, haha. That's weird then that the 4S was 4 million. I would have expected to see the 4 be much higher. I guess that throws my logic out the window. There has been a massive trend towards smartphones in the past year or two though, so that would definitely help sales.

Personally I'm kind of surprised by the sales of the iPhone 5, even if it's lower than some analysts' predictions. I heard a lot of people show disinterest in the 5, so I expected sales would be slower. Just goes to show that a lot of people really will buy anything Apple puts out, haha.

[Stetson]

If the sales were so poor, then why are there people with preorders that won't ship until October? It would be in Apple's interest to ship those people an iPhone and charge their credit card for it if they just had them sitting around. As far as I know the phones that are ordered but haven't been delivered do not count in these sales numbers.

The reality is that they have sold pretty much all that they could make for the opening weekend. Some individual stores may have some stock but it isn't like there are millions sitting in warehouses waiting for people to order them.

If Apple could have made and shipped more they would have sold more. What an absolutely terrible position to be in, poor Apple.

The whole reporting-on-Apple situation is really weird these days. People are disappointed when a new device "Doesn't live up to the hype", or when sales or profits "miss analyst expectations".

All Apple does is announce products when they're ready to go on sale and then ship them to those that order them.

Most of the hype about new products comes from gadget blogs and news sites. The same sites that report on every iPhone ribbon cable that leaks out of China but are then "disappointed" when there's no surprise left at the announcement.

Most of the high expectations for sales and profits come from the same analysts who will report the real results as disappointing a few weeks later.

Meanwhile Apple continues on making products and selling them to those who want them.

[ambiance]

Perhaps the reason for this is that they can't meet the demand. There have been rumours of supply issues.

[efjay]

Competition is rising... both WP and Android.

:laugh: :rolleyes:

[Nogib]

Maybe. Just maybe it is a sign that iPhone users have gotten smart instead of wasting truckloads of money breaking their contracts year after year.