Article: Apple Gave Few Phones To Other Retailers
Author: Ian Sherr & Ann Zimmerman
Date: 09-24-2012
Source: Wall Street Journal
In the article, "Apple Gave Few Phones to Other Retailers", Ian Sherr and Ann Zimmerman discuss the uneven distribution of the new Apple iPhone 5 to retailers. Customers in search of the new iPhone 5 raced to stores to purchase their own as was released last Friday September 21st. Many iPhone 5 buyers did not have luck in purchasing the phone because stores did not receive enough phones to match the demand. Some Best Buy stores in the Silicon Valley received as low as ten iPhone 5 devices for pre-orders, while others received 40 devices. Best Buy had to act quickly to inform customers via email who attempted to pre-order the iPhone that they have ran out due to low inventory, stating that it may take up to 28 days for them to find the phone they want. A Target store in San Francisco received only eight phones while pre-orders were above 30. They had to turn down the iPhone buyers and could not provide them with an answer to when they will receive a new shipment.At the same time, Apple stores had thousands of the iPhone 5 devices in stock while retailers failed to receive at least 50.
Apple sold more than two million iPhone's on pre-orders the first day it was available. They are now producing an estimated 550,000 devices a day for the rest of the year and about one third of them will be shipped to the U.S. Sixty percent of them will go to retailers and the rest will be for Apple stores.
Apple's iPhone devices have seen increasing demand every year since the first iPhone debuted. I believe with increasing demand of the iPhone, that Apple should produce an amount that can fulfill more pre-order sales. I am not an iPhone fan and do not plan on owning one in the future, but I believe that Apple should more evenly distribute and allocate its iPhones throughout its retail partners. This way Apple can increase revenue and help out saller retail stores. As a manager of a small business, I know how important it is for businesses to have the opportunity to receive a decent amount of a high demand product such as the iPhone for sale. Maybe Apple may review how the devices were distributed this time and improve it for the next time they release the next iPhone model if they produce it.
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It is crazy to see how much a phone can change the American culture. People are waiting in line for a week to get a phone. However, I think it is smart of Apple to provide low inventory, it makes the consumers crave the product more because it is harder to get.
ReplyDeleteI recently just got my iPhone 5 and must say it is amazing since this is my first iPhone. I believe you are right Atilio that Apple should be responsible to meet the demands of the pre-orders in other retail stores. However, to enlighten on the point of Justin that it makes consumers crave more, but also have more stock in Apple stores means that more consumers will be going to their stores. Meaning that they might buy other products from their store than just the iPhone 5. It's all about making money and business to Apple.
ReplyDeleteeven though 2.5 million iPhone 5 were pre sold online, Apple should have increased supply with very high demand. Its crazy how much people want the next iphone in which most of the iphones are the same expect being faster or having a better camera. What I don't like with the Iphones IOS 6 is how bad they really mad the phone now. For example, maps are horrible, Facebook integration is not needed and there is no more Youtube app. If I were Google, I would take anything Google owned such as Gmail, Youtube, Blogger, or Google search and just make it exclusively for just Android phones.
ReplyDeleteThat is ridiculous how people are going crazy for that phone and wanting to get it right away. The iPhone 5 just came out and before you know it the new one will be out; it's so hard to keep up. I have the iPhone 4 and I am very happy with this phone. Apple is probably keeping the inventory low on purpose, so that people who really want it will work harder to get it.
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