44 thoughts on “Apple sells nine million iPhones in three days”

1. From Apple’s 8k:

   On September 23, 2013, Apple Inc. (the “Company”) announced that it has sold over nine million new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, just three days after the launch of the new iPhones on September 20.”

   Emphasis on over.

2. lol, somewhere the 9,000,001st customer is pumping his fist.

3. And the several million online orders that weren’t delivered or counted are sad.

4. Don’t worry, in a few months everyone will have forgotten and we’ll resume the regular narrative that iPhone sales are falling and Tim Cook should be fired, etc, etc, etc.

5. Err. Considering the 5c is the equivalent replacement over the 5; last year how many 5’s and 4S’s were sold together? That’d be a more telling number.

6. I went to the Apple Store at Mall of America on Saturday. Said store isn’t known for its long lines on product launches; when the iPad 2 came out I recall there being lines about 25-30 people long, lined up on the weekend before the store opened. But Saturday there were five people in line when I got there, and the store bustling inside. As I went in and did my research, the line extended to perhaps 12 people. This was on Saturday, I don’t know what it looked like there on Friday.

   (Two years ago when I got my 4S at MOA, I showed up after work on launch day, and there was no line and plenty of stock.)

   The situation in the store: all they had left of the 5s was Space Gray, 64GB (and, according to a co-worker, none for Verizon). But the 5c they had in all colors, all sizes. That could reflect the comparative popularity of the 5s over the 5c, or the constrained supply of the 5s, or that customers could have ordered the 5c online over the previous week, or some combination.

   I’m still on the fence as to which to get, frankly, which is frustrating but also right in line with almost every electronics purchasing decision I’ve ever made. The 5c looks better to my eye, and definitely feels better in-hand. I wasn’t a particular fan of the 5/5s design as compared to the 4/4S, though of course it’s a very good one. Perhaps two years on the 4S means I’m ready for something different than hard corners.

   It’s tough to evaluate the cameras in the environment of the Apple Store, and I’m certain that for a while at least the performance improvement, in real-world terms, would be negligible.

   I guess, short story, I’m not a power user, and so the 5c’s strengths take on more weight with me. Pondering it some more, lol.

7. You mean the 5s online orders? Are we sure they are not counted, even though they haven’t been delivered? The money has changed hands. For that matter, what about the 5c’s that were pre-ordered? Are those counted?

8. There is a mitigating factor to consider when comparing this year’s launch data to previous years’: sales opened in China as well, which was not true of any previous opening weekend. As such, it’s possible that Chinese demand for the phone was sated earlier rather than later, but that overall it’s similar. I’d be interested in the numbers come a month from now, when those kinds of differences have shaken out.

9. In past earnings calls, I believe Apple clearly stated a “sale” had to be a delivered order.

10. Nice try at an explanation. Except the ‘analysts, pundits, and experts’ said the phones would never fly in China.

    “Meh’ I think the headlines said. ‘Too expensive.’

    Unless of course, the pundits and analysts were wrong, which almost never happens.

11. The ‘experts’ new line: “After the initial hype, Apple iPhone sales plunge 50% within a week. Second weekend: a mere 4.5 million iPhones sold.”

12. Easy there, big fella. Not trying to make an explanation. Just saying that a straight comparison with past releases has this pitfall. The opening-day market is significantly larger than past opening-day markets, regardless of what pundits or analysts or forum commenters say. Past iPhones were sold in China, so there has always been a demand there; thus the first weekend numbers are influenced by what is either new demand (i.e. people that bought an iPhone this year that didn’t buy one last year), or redistributed old demand (Chinese buyers who had to wait in the past that could instead purchase one first weekend).

    Now, considering China Mobile’s involvement, that would be a very good thing: they could represent an expanded market, and not just a time-shifted one. And it could also be that yes, this year’s models are more popular than past models. But comparing the raw 9 million number for the opening weekend to past weekends is not sufficient to get an accurate picture of how this model’s sales compare. The number that will matter is the one at the end of the year.

13. You’re right, that’s the same answer that I would have given.

    And if I remember correctly, the iPhone 5 sold 2 million units when it was released in China, so even when considering Chinese sales, Apple still sold 2 million additional devices more than on on past opening weekends.

    (5 million on launch weekend + 2 million on Chinese launch weekend (months later))

    Yeah, this time they are also counting the iPhone 5c, BUT:

    People said that Apple is doomed and nobody will buy an overpriced 5s or 5c – so we should see lower numbers if Apple were really doomed.

    Seems Apple is not as doomed as some would like to see.

14. Props!

    This is the biggest point, IMHO:
    “more than 200 million iOS devices are now running the completely redesigned iOS 7”

15. My local store had every 5C color for all carriers and only 5S on Sprint. The S is clearly the the more desired or more constrained supply [we know the latter is true but how constrained…I’m unsure].

16. Yup.

    Android 4.2 is running on only 8.5% of all Android devices that have accessed Google Play Store, so that’s around 85 million devices (Maybe higher, 1 billion activated Android devices, but older devices are probably not accessing Google Play Store that often) – but that version is six (4.2.2) to ten (4.2) months old.

17. (trying vainly to copy Jim’s belly laugh when Dan says something funny):

    “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!”

18. Apple runs very consrvative accounting, they do not count sales until they are received. shipped or pre-ordered do not count.

19. 5c is a great phone. IMHO, save the difference in price towards a new iPad or whatever else they roll out in October.

20. I’d be interested in that, too. Did the rebranding work? There are plenty of 5c’s available, but how many 4S’s were available last year on launch weekend? What was the demand for the mid-tier, and is this year’s demand higher? Would be very interesting. Given how supply-constrained the 5s appears to be, I’d have to guess the strategy worked, if they sold 9 million phones.

21. The line that kills me is “stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly”

    As someone whose iPhone isn’t scheduled to be delivered until the second week of October that bugs me. Stores should not get new stock until iPhones are shipped to people that already paid for them.

22. Agreed.

23. It’s not even a comparison.

    Although, there is a big difference between an outdated Android vs iOS. Apple bakes their apps/updates in and Google’s apps are in the Play store and they allow new code to run on old OS versions through the Support library but that hinges on developers using it. This, as I’ve noted here before, is Google’s biggest problem.

24. Devil’s advocate: it’s part and parcel to the decision to order online. The expected wait time is shared when you make the order, it’s above-board. That’s the exchange you’re making: you get the convenience, but you pay for it by waiting longer.

    Apple also pays in this exchange: they would rather have you in the store, I’d think, where you can see and touch other products you (or an Apple Store representative) might convince yourself to buy. Plus the upsell of cases and Applecare. So Apple gives up that, and in return they get to prioritize you lower.

25. I would have gladly waited in line at the Apple Store if the closest one wasn’t 4 hours away. In fact, I did wait in line at my local AT&T store beginning at 4:00 a.m. I was third in line. The store received ZERO 64GB models so I left and ordered online. The problem is that Apple was not yet allowing the order online for in store pickup, which they are doing now. If they had allowed that I would have driven the 4 hours and picked it up in store. They didn’t start offering that until today and on Friday there was no way I was going to take a chance that they might do that and that they might have some in stock.

    The bottom line is that I was more than willing to wait in line, drive, buy in store, etc. Apple set up their system in such a way that it did not make sense for me to try this. Imagine how disappointed I would be if I had driven 4 hours and was not able to get a phone…

26. You know what I’m starting to wonder: that Apple’s success causes severe physical and mental pain to a whole lot of people. Left and right (Huff Post, The Verge etc.) I see commenters working themselves into a fit as they do their best to turn the 9 million in sales into something negative or fraudulent. Bizarre!

27. There is one thing that I don’t understand about this number that Apple always publishes. If I understand it correctly, the number only includes phones that have shipped or were sold directly via retail (i.e. actually sold and not pending). It does not include people who have orders in the queue that have not shipped yet and obviously does not include people who are waiting for their local stores to get stock.

    Since the iPhone is always constrained at launch, the number is basically how many iPhones Apple built for launch date, and not how many phones people wanted to buy.

    Or am I misunderstanding the numbers?

28. Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. I do like that “order online and pick up in the store” option. Though I’ve got a couple of stores within a half hour drive from home (even closer from work) so it’s not that bad for me.

29. Other commenters have said the same, that it’s phones actually now in the hands of the purchasers. If that is the case, then it SOMEWHAT reflects Apple’s ability to meet first-weekend demand. But there are plenty of 5c’s to be had (and I would guess 4S’s?) so it’s not entirely that.

30. Depending on where you go, I get that a lot no matter what pro-Apple spin. Especially at The Verge. They’re immediately all flooded with iPhone-disparaging comments (and Verge-disparaging comments for daring to write something positive about Apple). I shouldn’t even read them any more, it’s just a reflection of some of the worst parts of people.

    (I see it both ways, btw…I see mean-spirited posts by Android users and mean-spirited posts by iOS users.)

    What saddens me is that so many posts are disparaging of people and not of technology. This goes for mean-spiritedness pointed toward Apple or Android users and also towards the [Verge || Engadget || HuffPost staff]. Very sad.

31. Producing and selling 9 million iPhones in a weekend is a very impressive number no matter how you look at it (I believe it is more phones than Microsoft phones sell in an entire quarter).

    I guess what I am curious about is how demand compares from one year to the next, and I don’t think the number Apple publishes really tells that.

32. Funny you should bring that up. Some months ago, I was musing about when the next phone would come out and anticipating getting one. It’s a treat I give myself every couple of years. It’s been a couple of years since I felt I really had to upgrade. Heck, I could keep using my 4S just fine. But I like Apple products, they’re fun to use, and so this is as much a present to myself every couple of years as anything.

    Anyhow, I was musing about the next phone and, as I used to do often, wondering if it was time for an iPad. I felt I could afford to do one or the other, but not both. My girlfriend, who has had the opportunity to see me analyze gadgets and their potential fit into my lifestyle many times, chuckled about it and told me she already knew what I would choose.

    Fast forward to this weekend, and I asked if I’d chosen how she predicted. Yep. She knew if I really wanted an iPad, I would rationalize getting one, but that I think too hard about these things and that I could also easily talk myself out of it. But I already had an iPhone: its role in my life is secure. So I’d get an iPhone. She’s right!

    What’s nice is that Apple will give me $200 in exchange for my 4S (a store associate checked out my 4S and proclaimed it in excellent shape, and gave me the quote). I can wait until October 14 and unlock it and get a few bucks more, but really I could just walk in, trade in my 4S and walk out with a 32GB 5c with little money changing hands. Except for the extra lightning cable. And AppleCare. And that new iMac I was pondering, and what the heck I’m sure I could find a way to use an iPad mini…

33. You’ve touched on something that’s far bigger than technology: mean-spiritedness seems to be the way to go these days!

34. Shut up, you idiot!

    Er, I mean, yeah, I agree.

35. The thing that analysts and the press never seem to understand: the “incremental” changes made for the 5C are only incremental when compared to the 5 — an upgrade path almost no one takes. With most people on 2-year contracts, the 4S-to-5C upgrade is, indeed, significant. And the 4S-to-5S upgrade might be the biggest improvement in the iPhone’s history. So while the press is all, “No big deal here”, the public THAT IS ACTUALLY READY TO BUY really does want the new iPhone. These numbers aren’t surprising.

36. Well I suppose we’ll have to settle this in a court of law 🙂

37. why doesn’t it? collect the previous years of opening weekend and trend them.

38. yes, this feature is nice and I wish it had been present on launch. the Mall of America store has my unit in stock but I didn’t want to risk it so I ordered online, comes in weds.

39. As long as Apple doesn’t build enough phones to meet demand on opening weekend, it only tells us how many phones Apple is building as well as a lower bound on demand (i.e. we know there was demand this year for at least 9 million phones and last year there was demand for at least 5 million phones).

    However, if Apple had built 20 million iPhones ready for opening weekend last year, how many would they have sold? 7 million? 10 million? 5.5 million?

    I’m not saying that Apple’s number is not useful or interesting or impressive. I just don’t think it tells us how many people were ready to buy on opening weekend, and if Apple had built more phones, it does not tell us how many they would have sold.

40. not sure I agree. customer demand is customer demand — whether it’s chins or the moon. that’s what the trend shows. and it’s what pundits said “nuh uh” to.

41. I think that at that point you’re departing from reality and into hypothetical — not the point of trending sales data. maybes and could-haves. the reality is, apple sold X, Y and Z on opening weekends in years past, and 9MM this. if you trend it, it’s a climb upward. that’s the only way to answer the question of demand — real world sales of real world produced products.

42. I guess that is my point … there is no way of measuring demand, only how many phones Apple built. Apple does have some of the data (i.e. the # of people like myself who have ordered a phone that has not shipped yet), but they do not share this data.

    Or … once Apple finally catches up to demand, we can see how many phones they sold compared to years past.

    The opening weekend number just seems less useful to me.

43. lol

44. I’m just saying that if I am an individual that wants to buy an iPhone, and I lived in a country where I couldn’t on Day 1, then I may make a part of the iPhone demand but I do not make up a part of first-weekend sales. Eventually I will buy my iPhone, and eventually I’ll be in the sales column, but I won’t have been on Day 1.

    It really isn’t until we get to a point in the calendar where everyone that had a chance to buy last year has had their chance to buy this year.

    “Nine million sold” isn’t a measure of demand, it’s a measure of sales. So it’s impressiveness as a first-weekend measure of demand is still to be determined.