Apple Confirms iPhone 5 Preorders Top 2 Million In 24 Hours

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Apple Confirms iPhone 5 Preorders Top 2 Million In 24 Hours

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 17, 2012 @01:41AM from the got-to-have-one dept.

TheBoat writes "Apple announced on Monday that iPhone 5 preorders topped 2 million units in the smartphone's first 24 hours of pre-sale availability. That figure doubles Apple's first-day iPhone 4S sales last year, making the iPhone 5 Apple's fastest-selling smartphone ever. 'iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,' Apple marketing boss Philip Schiller said."

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Wow. by Theophany · 2012-09-17 01:43 · Score: 2, Insightful

Not sure why they're bragging about it, they're way behind the Galaxy S3 on this particular metric.

Not a troll, just interesting to see the enormous difference in preorder sales between two companies that are constantly at each others' throats.
1. Re:Wow. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-17 01:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Right but, are we talking about units sold or units shipped. Apple consistently uses units sold to my knowledge, and then after that it's a crapshoot without additional information.
2. Re:Wow. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-17 01:58 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Yeah, the iphone is a total rip off.
3. Re:Wow. by Buchenskjoll · 2012-09-17 02:06 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yeah, and if christmas tree vendors could keep up sales all year it would be a hell of a business.
  
  --
  -- Make America hate again!
4. Re:Wow. by beelsebob · 2012-09-17 02:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Probably no one would upgrade from the 4S, even though it does have twice as much RAM, a CPU that's twice as fast, a GPU that's twice as fast, a bigger screen, ...
  But upgrades from the 4 or the 3GS... Almost certainly tons of people.
5. Re:Wow. by alen · 2012-09-17 02:29 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  i secretly pre-ordered one for my wife because her 4 is already off contract. she wasn't interested until i told her it has a much better camera especially for low light photos and dedicated CPU space for better photo quality. when you have 2 kids things like this matter. not rooting and tooting and staying up all night getting excited by cryptic commands on a black background
6. Re:Wow. by bdenton42 · 2012-09-17 02:57 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  The thing with the 5 is that it largely catches up to what is out there now for Android. Every iPhone ever released has been a year or more behind in technology, whether it was 2G vs 3G, 3G vs 4G/LTE, screen resolution, CPU speed/cores, etc. Now iPhone has a decent screen (not 720p HD but close), LTE, and fast dual core CPU. I don't see Android making a large leap over that in technology in the short term, so you can finally get an iPhone and won't have to be embarrassed about the features that it is missing. Just make sure you overpay as much as possible to get the storage you think you'll need because you still can't add or upgrade that ($200 for an extra 48GB is insane).
7. Re:Wow. by SomeKDEUser · 2012-09-17 03:02 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Apple is clever (and evil). At this point it is completely clear that they are not in the technology business. They are a luxury brand selling positional goods. If apple reduced its price, it would likely sell much less. If you are not an apple customer, you can smugly look down on apple victims as fashionistas with more money than sense.
  And don't give me crap that there is some crucial software which you need which only runs on macs: this exists but is completely negligible in terms of number of units sold -- and that doesn't even apply to phones.
  It is one of the sorriest traits that I see in my fellow human to value things accordingly to their price.
8. Re:Wow. by Americano · 2012-09-17 04:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They are a luxury brand selling positional goods.
  Actually for me, they're a computer manufacturer selling well-built, well-integrated Unix desktops and laptops, and phones and tablets that are largely zero-hassle to operate. Don't imagine that your logic applies to all, or even most, cases.
  I think the sorriest traits I see in my fellow humans are:
  1) their obsession with what other people do with the money they earn;
  2) their lack of appreciation for tools which save time, which is often more valuable to the owner of the tool than any extra cost incurred in purchasing the tool itself;
  But you know, that's just me.
9. Re:Wow. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-17 04:24 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Wow. Someone who gets it.
  Platform isn't about some magical choice between closed and open source. Its not some walled garden vs free for all marketplaces.
  People buy a phone that works for them. Once they buy into a platform, once you start factoring in software (apps) and the cost of that, people are reluctant to change.
  iOS and Andriod both have their strengths and weaknesses. Blind rabid fanatacism towards either is stupid. Oooh, my device had 20 billion preorders in 60 days, yours only has 1 billion in 3 days, look how awesome mine is, blah blah blah.
  Fuck you. You're all a bunch of hypocritical assholes with blind devotion to your platform of choice. Blah blah fucking blah.
  I USE my smartphone. I don't give a fuck what OS it runs.
  Its the fucking sports world of the geeks. The Cupertino iPhonies against the Mountain View Androdgynies. Going to the game, wearing your jersey & screaming in orgasmic delight every time your team scores just makes you a corporate stooge.
  It doesn't matter who wins...just that they keep playing. At least then consumers win.
10. Re:Wow. by SomeKDEUser · 2012-09-17 04:38 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Bullshit. This is after-the-fact rationalising. Apple products are positional goods the same way a Gucci bag is.
  Also, what people do with their money matters. And Americans living this electoral season should, of all people, be aware of that. Spending money on a conspicuous good which has no particular intrinsic value is not admirable. It is crass and should be looked down upon.
  And for the record, I don't want an iPhone nor any other mobile phone: I refuse to give the telcos a single cent more than I strictly need to.
11. Re:Wow. by amiga3D · 2012-09-17 05:59 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I don't get this kind of hatred for the iPhone. It's as unreasoning as the fanboys' slavish gushing praise. The iPhone is a well made, well designed piece of electronic gear. It functions superbly. Is it overpriced? Maybe. But then any object is worth only what you can get people to pay for it. I think maybe for some it's the status, for some the sleek design and for others the slick OS that functions superbly. Regardless it keeps on succeeding time after time despite all the ranting from so many apple haters. I've seen a lot of Droid users opt for an iPhone after playing with a 4S and I've seen a lot of Droid users give it a pass 'cause they are happy with what they've got. It's great to have the choice though, really.
12. Re:Wow. by SomeKDEUser · 2012-09-17 06:27 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Fact: iphones are a positional good: they cost more and do less than the competition. You buy them because they are shiny and make you look good. This is exactly like a Louis Vuitton bag. I hate that humans fall for that: it is a reality of life, however.
  You also seem to be completely ignorant of the concept of positional good. A Cheval Blanc from a good year is a very good wine. It may even be actually better than the competition. However, what justifies its price is that by being expensive, people buying it advertise their wealth. The iphone is the same and the essential reason it is successful.
  FFS, Apple knows that: look at how it is marketed: beautiful, sleek, elegant. This is not how a phone is marketed... This is a fashion accessory, and there is much more money to be made in fashion accessories than in phones. If Nokia had understood that, they would not be in the dire straits they are in.
  You, on the other hand, seem very defensive about your money and how you spend it. It is your money. You are free to spend it as you want. But don't think for a single second that you get any respect/admiration/status from technically minded people by waving around a luxury good.
  I find interesting you feel guilty about owning a mac computer in a discussion about phones...
And the electronic garbage pile expands by StripedCow · 2012-09-17 02:01 · Score: 3, Insightful

Let's stop putting money into these closed systems.
Only open systems can help reduce e-waste (just look at Linux, which can actually breathe new life into an old i386).

--
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
1. Re:And the electronic garbage pile expands by Sique · 2012-09-17 02:31 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I'm not convinced that keeping an old i386 alive is such a good idea from an environmental point of view. If you get a $25 Raspberry Pi, the added waste to the landfill is not more than a single ISA card from the i386 (e.g. to add network capabilities), but it runs on 3.5 Watts instead of 120. So yes, it is possible to keep old i386 alive with Linux, and no, there is not much point in doing so except the smug "because I can".
  
  --
  .sig: Sique *sigh*
2. Re:And the electronic garbage pile expands by EGSonikku · 2012-09-17 02:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yeah, that's worked well for Android handsets, most of which can't be upgraded, or if lucky maybe once! Versus "evil closed Apple!" who on the 19th will be releasing iOS 6, including for the 3+ year old iPhone 3GS. And Apple actually has done a fair amount of open source (including WebKit and the OS X kernel): http://opensource.apple.com/
  
  --
  - "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
Re:How current iPhone users see the iPhone 5 by Missing.Matter · 2012-09-17 02:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's like that Jimmy Kimmel sketch where he gives people an "iPhone 5" (really a 4S) and they tell him how much faster and lighter it is compared to their current 4S.
Apple Fanboys worry me... by dryriver · 2012-09-17 02:05 · Score: 1, Insightful

You'd think that people would wait a few days for the iPhone 5 to hit the market, get thoroughly tested/reviewed by various internet sites, build some word-of-mouth (is it genuinely good?). But not, millions of people go "I want, I want, I want" for a product they've never seen or touched in person. ------- Thank god for Android. I couldn't live in a world where Apple dominates everything. --------

--
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
1. Re:Apple Fanboys worry me... by tooyoung · 2012-09-17 02:14 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Comments above point out that the Galaxy S3 had 9 million preorders vs the iPhone 5's 2 million. If I apply your logic to those numbers, am I to believe that Android 'fanboys' are a much worse flock? Or maybe people are just buying products that they want and we can stop associating one brand or the other with our egos.
Re:Perspective by Missing.Matter · 2012-09-17 02:08 · Score: 3, Insightful

Isn't this pretty much a repeat of the PC wars all over again?
So you're saying pre-orders are a bad thing? by kiriath · 2012-09-17 02:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

ALL those people that pre-ordered the samsung devices 'Sight unseen' were ok though... right?
People who pre-order anything are idiots... people who buy tickets in advance for a movie are stupid too right? They are sheep blindly following some silly trailer and thinking they might enjoy a movie. People who pre-order video games, music albums... dvds... all sheep. Right?
I hate when people use the term 'sheeple'... I am fully in charge of my technological wants and desires... I have several android devices, but I really enjoy my apple devices. I have the resources to upgrade when they come out with something new and I do. How does this make me a sheep? I'm not blindly purchasing some mythical happy box because someone said so... if I didn't want it, I wouldn't buy it. Simple as that.
1. Re:So you're saying pre-orders are a bad thing? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-17 03:20 · Score: 0, Insightful
  
  Ignore the sheeple thing. It's filthy little geeks, either the old neckbeards who never matured emotionally and are raging in their impotence, or younger little shits who came late to the party and are already seeing the relevance of the geekverse fast declining as easy to use tech and gadgets spread into the greater world. Scum. All of them.
Re:Perspective by JustNiz · 2012-09-17 02:57 · Score: 4, Insightful

Apple 5 will be $199? I think not.
$199 might be the subsidised price a phone company will sell you a branded, locked down version as long as you sign up for a 2 year plan. Actually for that deal I would even call $199 overpriced.
Now try and just buy the phone without all of that. It'll be like $600.
yeah, it is popular by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-17 03:46 · Score: 2, Insightful

But popularity doesn't coincide with quality. Take Windows for example. Or Java. Popular, but they all suck ass.
Re:Perspective by Paradise+Pete · 2012-09-17 05:20 · Score: 3, Insightful

The Samsung Galaxy S 3 costs as much as an iPhone 5. Premium phones have premium prices. But *most* of the phones Samsung sells are not premium phones.
The hateboi mantra of "overpriced" seems like a pretty weak way to argue against something. Nice things cost money, and usually in a non-linear way. That's how the world is.
Re:Perspective by RightSaidFred99 · 2012-09-17 05:31 · Score: 2, Insightful

You are making ridiculous points. You can get a T-mobile prepaid plan with 5 gigs of 3G+/4G- data and 100 minutes of talk time for $30 a month, out the door. No FCC fees etc... For most nerds, this is plenty. For the cell phone blatherer, you can get Straight Talk unlimited talk/text and 2 gigs of data for $45. For $70 a month you can get T-Mobile prepaid with unlimited/5 gigs of data. Compare to $100+ for AT&T/Verizon plans that are similar.
So all plans are not the same, subsidized phone plans are a rip off unless you have a bunch of people on a shared plan. But for people buying 1/2 lines and on the 2-year treadmill, they are paying anywhere from $700-$1400 for their "$199" iPhone.
And yes, this applies to any subsidized phone, but especially the iPhone which would sell far less if people had to pay the $600-$700 for the phone outright then got much cheaper cell plans.