Apple (AAPL) New iPhone Launch Greeted With Lines and Sellouts
Apple started taking preorders for the cheaper and colorful iPhone 5C model last Friday, however no preorders were available for the iPhone 5S likely due to limited supply.
The online store is already pushing back delivery times for the high-end iPhone 5S. First showing 1-3 day delivery estimates just after midnight, as of 8AM ET the space grey models are now showing 7-10 days at AT&T and Verizon and 1-3 days at Sprint (except for 64GB model which is also 7-10 at Sprint). The silver is showing 7-10 days at all carriers (except the 64GB at Sprint which is showing 1-3 days). The gold is showing October estimates at all carriers for all sizes.
The online store is showing 1-3 day delivery windows for all iPhone 5C models and colors at this point.
Analysts are mixed on what to expect from the opening weekend:
BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman said it will be hard to draw comparisons from the launch of last year's iPhone 5 given that preorders weren't available for the iPhone 5S, which is expected to be the hotter product this year. He sees unit preorders and shipments for the combined 5s and 5c to be far lower than the 6 million for last year's iPhone 5.
Susquehanna's Chris Caso sees more chance for downside than upside to opening weekend expectations, based on supply chain checks and their view regarding investor expectation. "Conversations around the iPhone launch have been focused on the apparent tight supply for iPhone 5S", Caso comments. "We don't find this as a particular surprise, since our checks through the summer indicated that the iPhone 5c entered production several weeks ahead of iPhone 5S, therefore providing greater supply volume at launch. Our most recent checks suggest that AAPL has managed to produce in the range of 4-6mln units of iPhone 5S thus far. We don't expect iPhone 5c to be in short supply. Based on our conversations with investors this week, we think investors are generally expecting AAPL to announce sales of 8mln units over the opening weekend, which we think would require about 3-4 mln unit sales of iPhone 5c. We therefore think the risk of downside is greater than the chance of upside this weekend. Alternately, if AAPL were to choose to not disclose weekend sales, this would likely be perceived as a significant negative."
While analysts aren't feeling overly confident, lines look pretty hefty at the New York City store this morning. Below is a chopper shot from CBS This Morning:
