What is fascinating is to click on the provided link which connects you to the individual stores. There you can see a frontal picture of each Apple Store. It’s great as a stock holder to be able to see how Apple ‘does it differently’ with a spectacular storefront presentation that also invites you in. Also, I was surprised to see all Apple Stores I checked were open Saturday the 4th and are open Sunday too. Also, you’ll notice that several of the stores are going to undergo remodeling beginning in July. (The Sacramento Apple Store will be undergoing remodeling too… I can hardly wait to see the results.)
BTW, I love my new 17” MacBook Pro with nonglare screen and my new iPhone 3GS knocks my socks off. I’m going see how easy or difficult it is to fill a 32 gig iPhone with video. Then, of course, I get to watch it and ... I get to play!
In Canada, Rogers is completely sold out of all models of the 3GS. (Source: Rogers.ca and greeting message on Rogers phone line)
I’ve been getting a feeling from anecdotal conversations that something is really happening here that most of us might not have really expected. While in some ways, the 3GS was not the revolutionary upgrade that we’d might think would draw a sudden surge of demand, it does appear to be happening. I’ve been very surprised that many I’ve talked to in the past that have seen my iPhone as something very cool but a little too ‘Jetsons-like’ to buy themselves, are now telling me that they are going to get one. This really could be a magic moment, where the iPhone goes well beyond gadget lovers and other early adopters and moves directly into the mainstream of the population. This appears to be happening and I believe that iPhone will clearly gap the competition when it comes to the masses. When this happens, we get the great double of both that rapidly expanding pie of smart phone growth, as well as Apple’s piece of that pie increasing on a percentage basis. Tighten your seatbelts, this could be a great ride!
No doubt the phone is a success. However, evidence of holiday weekend inventory constraints is only one potential corroborating indicator of the phone’s retail uptake by consumers. Obviously this phone is popular and the media hype about the Pre being the much ballyhooed iPhone killer did not match to reality. But this is a long road with a global roll out to come and better competition from a number of different handsets is about to begin.
This is the 3rd iteration of the iPhone so anyone who had concerns about the product’s staying power can look past that uncertainty and look upon the device as the current standard in design and function excellence.
I’m more interested in the iPhone’s halo effect on Mac sales that the number of handsets sold. More important to near-term results than iPhone unit sales is the fate of the Mac. We’re heading into the Windows 7 media storm and any momentum for the Mac due to the continuing popularity of the iPhone would be quite welcome.
The iPhone/iPod touch are part of a Mac OS X-based platform. The manner in which this platform (Macs, iPhones, iPod touch) continues to gobble market share and mind share) in terms of combined unit sales and developer interest in building the associated eco-system has a far more reaching impact than the initial uptake of 3GS unit sales.
I’m bullish. But I also want some real data points before drawing conclusions.
I would like to know how many students who got the touch when they purchased a laptop went on and purchased an iphone. Right now, the number is probably not very large, but after a few years when these students graduate, the uptake should be huge.
What is fascinating is to click on the provided link which connects you to the individual stores. There you can see a frontal picture of each Apple Store. It’s great as a stock holder to be able to see how Apple ‘does it differently’ with a spectacular storefront presentation that also invites you in. Also, I was surprised to see all Apple Stores I checked were open Saturday the 4th and are open Sunday too. Also, you’ll notice that several of the stores are going to undergo remodeling beginning in July. (The Sacramento Apple Store will be undergoing remodeling too… I can hardly wait to see the results.)
Where I live (Bellevue), the Apple store was planning a remodel on the same footprint. However, the inside word is that the mall operator will not let Apple close for the 2 weeks it needs to remodel. The Apple store DRIVES TRAFFIC like no other retailer in the mall. So….the Apple store will be relocating to other (hopefully, larger) space, and it can remain open in its existing space while its new diggs are under construction. How is THAT for testimony for foot traffic?
Awhile back the Glendale Apple Store underwent a remodel and the store’s operations were moved temporarily to an alternate location while the remodel was underway. I purposely do very little shopping and rarely visit a mall other than the ones at which an Apple retail store is located. Personally, Apple stores are the singular draw for me to visit a mall (versus other locations that might carry the goods I plan to buy) so I can understand the mall owner’s and/or management’s concerns about an Apple retail closing for a remodel. I know I’m not alone in my preference to visit shopping malls at which Apple retail stores are located. Even if I’m not planning Apple store purchases, the store is usually my first stop and I’m much more apt to shop at a mall where I can visit an Apple store while doing what little shopping I have planned.
I too, will wait for real numbers before drawing definitive conclusions, I am however much more optimistic that I expected to be at this time.
You also mention the two magic phrases that need to be considered in any iPhone success story—“Halo effect”, and “Apple ecosystem”. The Windows 7 storm is indeed brewing and I do expect a very successful product launch for Microsoft that will generate a huge amount of media attention. While giving MS a chance to wipe the Vista egg off their face may give some potential switchers reason for pause, I believe the power of the halo will still be seen in the months to come. In retrospect, I do wish Apple had strayed a little bit off the charted course by being more aggressive on pricing in the 12 months preceding the Windows 7 release. Opportunities like Vista don’t come along too often and I would have liked to have seen greater market share gains in Vista’s waning year.
Back to iPhone, I still haven’t seen a strategy talked about that gives me confidence they can have a big impact in the foreign non-subsidized markets. On the competition side, I do not fear the competition. iPhone advantages are real and the competition will again help to prove that everyone needs a smart phone, and Apple will win their share of battles here. I do worry about impact on margins, but I feel that is a natural progressive that we will have to accept. One heretical thought I have, even though I personally have no wish for one, is that giving some type of physical keyboard option would include a significant market segment that thinks (rightly or wrongly) that a keyboard is necessary. Why not charge an extra $25 for a version with a slide-out and then include all these silly folks in our target market? Or, would the oft-rumored ‘MacPad’ be the answer for someone who want something easier to type on?
A reliable source says that Apple stocks more 16GB models than the 32GB, so the out of stock condition in Washington State Apple stores is all the more impressive:
White iPhones appear to be in chronic short supply. Why?
If you’re looking for a guess I’ll give you mine. Gloss black plastic shows oils and scratches more readily and tends to look cheap if not in pristine condition. Pristine ends about a minute and a half after you take possession of an iPhone. Black automobiles have been in fashion for quite a few years now but the boards are full of people who are tired of the aesthetic maintenance and are moving to other choices. I believe that white has re-emerged as the most popular paint color for automobiles. There is something about the black face/white back that is really elegant in a way that a black tux and a white shirt is. What you’re observing is probably just a return to white trendline…,but don’t really know. As an aside, I never grew tired of my first generation iPhone and still think it was a total home run aesthetically.
White iPhones appear to be in chronic short supply. Why?
We can expect production to match demand for the two colors fairly quickly. Maybe it’s just higher than expected demand for white this time around. Maybe it’s the reported “color change after it gets hot” that is now attributed to color transferring from third party cases when it gets hot. It’s possible Apple held back white production while they figured out if there was any fault in the plastic composition.
A shipment of iPhones must have been delivered in the last few hours, because most of the stores are green again. Now we can lurk to see green transition to red one more time.
A shipment of iPhones must have been delivered in the last few hours, because most of the stores are green again. Now we can lurk to see green transition to red one more time.
The wonderful thing is that all the carriers are also supply constrained and we have additional carriers launching throughout the next qtr. We are building for a gang buster 4th qtr at least for the Iphone and if we get the China launch Apple will sell everything they can build. Apple set a record of 6.9M last year so my guess with a China launch we are over 8M for the 4th quarter.
There may never be an official “China launch”. Everyone who can AFFORD an iphone in MAINLAND China may already have or saving up to get one from Hong Kong where they can buy a LEGAL, unlocked, no sim card, GENUINE IPHONE
