Just noticed that the Apple online store now says 5-7 days shipping time for the 3GS.  Since the iPhone 4 launched, the 3GS had 24hr shipping times.  Why is there a tight supply of 3GS iPhones? Is there a strong demand for the $99 3GS?  Or perhaps Apple has shifted production lines so it can produce more iPhone 4s since there still seems to be a major supply problem with the iPhone 4s, not to mention the white iPhone 4 production problems.  If anything, this is why Papermaster had to go…

At least it seems supply for the iPad is increasing… the online store now says 3-5 days shipping.

China?

blue sequoia - 17 August 2010 06:13 PM

Just noticed that the Apple online store now says 5-7 days shipping time for the 3GS.  Since the iPhone 4 launched, the 3GS had 24hr shipping times.  Why is there a tight supply of 3GS iPhones? Is there a strong demand for the $99 3GS?  Or perhaps Apple has shifted production lines so it can produce more iPhone 4s since there still seems to be a major supply problem with the iPhone 4s, not to mention the white iPhone 4 production problems.  If anything, this is why Papermaster had to go…

At least it seems supply for the iPad is increasing… the online store now says 3-5 days shipping.

Maybe because of the China launch, but that is a pure guess.  I would hope Apple forecasting accounted for huge growth but we will have to wait for the Sep Qtr numbers.  It will be interesting to see how the rumored 4M per month build rate for the iPhone 4 compares to actual results.  The issues with the white iPhone may affect demand but I doubt it affects manufacturing since you can switch colors easily on a production line.  Everything I’ve seen says Foxconn is adding additional production at a new factory .  If we assume that Apple has achieved their rumored 4M target in Aug and need more production to meet demand, I think we will be in good shape for a few qtrs, but it sure makes modeling tricky.

blue sequoia - 17 August 2010 06:13 PM

Just noticed that the Apple online store now says 5-7 days shipping time for the 3GS.  Since the iPhone 4 launched, the 3GS had 24hr shipping times.  Why is there a tight supply of 3GS iPhones? Is there a strong demand for the $99 3GS?  Or perhaps Apple has shifted production lines so it can produce more iPhone 4s since there still seems to be a major supply problem with the iPhone 4s, not to mention the white iPhone 4 production problems.  If anything, this is why Papermaster had to go…

At least it seems supply for the iPad is increasing… the online store now says 3-5 days shipping.

Blue, your first thought is the right thought. I was in an AT&T store 2 weeks ago looking for a case for my 4 and watched 3 iphone 3gs go out the door. I asked the salesman about it and he said demand for the 3gs had spiked once the price dropped to $99. It is a good thing to have more iphones sold, but the GM’s are going to get killed this qtr. (Revenue should be spectacular though)

CNET: Weeks later, iPhone 4 lines still huge

It’s worse than that, I discovered. Not only is it hard to come by, but there are still lines nearly as long as they were on the original launch day, even on August 13. How can this be?
Friday morning, 9 a.m.
A phone call to the Upper West Side Apple Store confirmed that the iPhone 4 is, indeed, in stock. “Come down now, there’s already a line,” the Apple employee advised. He wouldn’t say whether there were enough to make the trip worthwhile.
At 9:20, the line was around the block and down to the next street, at least 70 people long, probably longer. How did everyone know? Did they all make calls like I did?

Linky

Hope everyone is well Mark.
Mac

At $99 a 3GS is a steal. For people filling out family plans with iPhones the 3GS is a good buy. We often forget not everyone is on a one-person plan and for kids heading off for college and need a phone, the 3GS is worth a look especially if they have a Mac for campus work that has a built-in iSight camera.

Surprising ... when one considers the cost of owning the phone the extra $100 seems like a small price to pay for the upgrade to the latest version ... face time alone would be worth it.  I’d bet this is more a rebalancing of production pulling resources off of the 3Gs build and adding them to the iPhone4 line. 

I’d like to know which but even when Apple reports you can bet they will not be providing a breakdown of different models sold .

Perhaps some of the 3GS production lines were switched to the iPhone 4 to help meet demand, thus constraining supply of the older model. There’s also the possibility that attenagate influenced a lot of buyers who kept hearing there were no problems with the 3GS as far as reception. Some people don’t care about the camera or retina display; they just want to make phone calls and get their e-mail, and project an air of coolness because they have an iPhone.

If Apple were to use liquidmetal for the body of the iPhone 5 (and I’m not sure how that would work with either an internal or external antenna), I think a lot of new buyers would pick it over the iPhone 4 despite a $99 price on the latter, simply because a metal back would be one less surface to break.

Looks like S Korea is trying to do the same to iPhone 4 production

Yahoo News

Wed Aug 18, 6:32 am ET
SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea’s KT Corp said tens of thousands of people jammed its website on Wednesday as it began to take preorders for Apple’s iPhone 4.
KT Corp, the country’s sole distributor for the gadget, said in just nine hours more than 110,000 people put their names down for the popular smartphone after its online shop opened.
“Our online shop server was jammed instantly as too many clients placed orders simultaneously,” KT spokesman Jin Byung-Kwon told AFP.
“So far, the number of orders for the iPhone 4 exceeds well beyond that of the iPhone 3GS,” he said.
KT said its online shop would receive orders for a week, while shops will take orders until the new model’s official launch next month.

I can only imagine the 3GS goes away within months and that any and all stock is from previous production. Apple’s history with ‘legacy’ products would lead anyone to believe it’s EOL now. It’s all about the 4. And the coming 4CDMA or 4hybrid.

Tiger - 18 August 2010 11:03 AM

I can only imagine the 3GS goes away within months and that any and all stock is from previous production. Apple’s history with ‘legacy’ products would lead anyone to believe it’s EOL now. It’s all about the 4. And the coming 4CDMA or 4hybrid.

Apple and AT&T desire a $99 subsidized phone option. The 3GS may find its way to May or early June.

Just noticed that the Apple online store now says it takes 1-2 weeks to ship an iPhone 3GS. I think this just changed from 5-7 days shipping. 

Is Apple having supply problems again with the 3GS model?  Or perhaps Apple is saving supply for a China launch? Or using production capacity to make iPod touches?

The supply of iPhones is still not meeting demand and there’s no word about white iPhone 4s and its almost the end of the quarter.  Can’t believe the online store still says 3 weeks to ship an iPhone 4.  How long does it take to make an iPhone? I would imagine 1-5 days tops? Is this why Papermaster had to go?  Shouldn’t the supply/demand problem be fixed by now?

Hopefully sales numbers will be “off the charts”.

Last weekend, a few stores still had lines of 20-40 people waiting to pick up an iPhone. Yesterday two stores at the end of the day said that they had “plenty” of iPhones (all models) in stock, but one said not to wait until closing to get an iPhone 4 since the store was very busy…