This morning Apple (AAPL) issued a press release with the title ‘First Weekend iPhone Sales Top Nine Million, Sets New Record.’ On the surface, every word in this title is true but digging deeper shows that the record may not be as good as it seems.
The previous record was 5 million iPhone 5 phones sold over the opening weekend. Despite the big numbers, comparing the most recent launch with the prior launch of the iPhone 5 may result in some erroneously bullish conclusions. Here’s why.
iPhone 5 was released in nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, U.K., and the U.S.
Apple iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S were released in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, U.K., and the U.S.
The big difference is that iPhone 5 was not released in China on the same day as it was released in the U.S. Apple’s press release does not break out information by the country. Therefore it is difficult to compare.
Two Models
This is the first time that Apple has released two models at the same time. Apple’s press release does not separately breakout sales by iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. With a two year contract, iPhone 5 was priced at $199; iPhone 5C is priced at $99.
Comparing sales numbers from the release of two models to the release of only one model last time, especially when one of the current models is priced at 50% of the price of the previous model is comparing apples to oranges…Read more at Forbes
