iPhone 5 - Pre Orders Shatter Sales


After many critics dismissed, what they deemed minor upgrades to the newly launched iphone 5, Apple's announcement earlier today that it sold over two million iPhone 5's during pre-orders in the first 24 hours of availability shows this giant shows no sign of slowing down. The iPhone 5 will be available in 100 countries, including China, by the end of the year.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has published a report estimating that Apple should have sales of 6-10 million units for the opening weekend:

Given the 2 million pre-orders, we remain confident that Apple can deliver 8 million (range of 6-10 million) iPhones in the launch weekend. The reason we are confident in the 8 million is two-fold. First, initial 24 hour pre-orders for the iPhone 5 were up 100% y/y from the iPhone 4S. Last year, pre-orders accounted for 25% of total weekend launch unit sales. Assuming the same initial pre-order/retail distribution, the pre-order total would suggest 8 million launch units.

This doubles the 'record breaking 1 million' units sold during last years iphone 4 launch. Apple has issued a press release this morning reflecting the strong opening:
“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.”

Shipping times for the new iPhone 5 has slipped to 2-3 weeks wait. With all three U.S. carriers, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint reporting high demand, especially with price drops on the newly replaced iPhone 4S, now selling for $99 (16GB) & free for the 8GB with a two year contract.