Share

As iPhone 7 sales start, Apple has scant supplies for buyers

To get an iPhone 7, one had to register first and then, be part of the growing queue.

Advertisement

iPhone 7 features breakthrough new camera systems, the best battery life ever in an iPhone and water and dust resistance.

A slightly unusual scene unfolded Friday at some Apple Inc. stores around the world, where the normal lines of camped-out shoppers eager to buy the latest iPhone were replaced in certain locations by smaller throngs who had preordered the largely sold-out phone.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) fans assembled at stores around the world to be among the first to buy the iPhone 7, the retail phenomenon that accompanies the launch of the company’s updated flagship product each year.

Apple’s Greater China sales dropped by a third in April-June, albeit after more than doubling a year earlier, while its market share has fallen to around 7.8 percent, placing it fifth behind local rivals Huawei, OPPO and Vivo. You can purchase an iPhone 7 starting at $649 and the iPhone 7 Plus at $769.

Apple enthusiasts are known to swarm company stores and form long queues in the hours before any big launch and the scene at retail stores across the United States with the availability of stunning iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 was no different on Friday.

Stores open in China later on Friday, a holiday. “I finally got it, and I feel proud!” Both come in silver, gold, rose gold, matte black and jet black colors.

“I want to test this in the bath”, said Takashi Sato, 44, a professor from Saitama, near Tokyo.

Pettigrew says he’s had every phone since the iPhone 3 debut and unlike Pounds, he gets his hands on a new phone as soon as it’s released. “Usually I don’t listen to a lot of music”.

Early statements from major US carriers, however, indicate that preorders are on pace with past years or better.

“Apple clearly controls supply tightly”, said Matthew Kanterman, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

USA telecom companies T-Mobile US and Sprint Corp. said that pre-orders for the iPhone 7 were nearly four times greater than previous iterations of the device including the smash hit iPhone 6.

Apple declined to comment on its supply chain and launch strategy.

Apple is likely to sell 44 million iPhones in the three months through September, according to RBC Capital Markets estimates, down from the 48 million sold in the same period a year earlier. Sprint, a smaller carrier, said preorders were “up more than 375 percent” from the first three days of iPhone sales past year.

Advertisement

Numerous devices are reserved for Apple’s iPhone Upgrade program, which started in the US and is being introduced in China and the United Kingdom this year. Apple, historically, hasn’t disclosed sales between iPhone models when revealing overall sales numbers.

5 secret tips for buying any iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus today