PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Pre-orders for Apple’s eagerly awaited new smartphone started this morning and, within moments, sold out.
Orders for the tenth anniversary iPhone launched at 8am with the day one devices being snapped up straight away. The pre-order page on Apple’s website now shows an estimated delivery time of four to five weeks, a drastically longer wait than the November 3rd launch date.
This does not really come as a surprise though. There have been reports circulating for the past year claiming that the iPhone X was either to be delayed or shipped in smaller numbers as a result of component shortages. Even before its launch, the new iPhone’s key feature – Face ID – has come under a lot of scrutiny, with component shortages reportedly leading to reduced accuracy.
Because of this, Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities predicted that there will be two to three million handsets available on launch day, and 25-30 million for the quarter. By comparision, Apple sold 78 million iPhones during the same time last year, but that includes all models. Let’s not forget that Apple has already launched one iPhone this year (even if the response was tepid).
Despite these shortages, users looking to get a hold of the new iPhone may be better looking elsewhere. UK mobile networks also are offering the phone for sale, and their stocks are likely to be less affected than Apple’s own. For example, EE is currently offering an estimated delivery of 14 days.
In all of this it would seem that shoppers have not been put off by the iPhone X’s wallet-bursting £999 price tag, with users clamouring to get the latest iteration of the device.
