iPhone 8 launch sees low turnout

midian182

Posts: 9,633   +120
Staff member

It’s usually the case that when a new iPhone launches we’re inundated with photos of Apple fans queuing up outside stores. But judging from the lines that appeared on Friday’s launch day, early demand for the iPhone 8 has been pretty poor.

Locations that have famously seen queues stretching for several blocks during previous iPhone releases were noticeably subdued last week. San Francisco’s Union Square and Apple’s Sydney city stores saw lines of around 80 and 30 people, respectively. Numbers were even worse at the company’s flagship London outlet, where there was more staff inside the store than the 13 people waiting outside.

It was a similar story on Saturday. Even with most people off work, lines for the iPhone 8 over the weekend were tiny. When passing my local Apple store during the early morning, I noticed it also contained more staff than customers waiting outside, which made the nightclub-style security appear quite unnecessary.

There were some exceptions, however; big lines reportedly appeared at Apple’s World Trade Center and Fifth Avenue New York locations — though these were still smaller than previous launches — as well as its Orchard Road Store in Singapore.

Barring the A11 Bionic SoC, the iPhone 8 has few notable hardware upgrades and even fewer cosmetic changes compared to its predecessor. As such, demand for the handset has been far from stratospheric, but the main reason behind the apparent lack of interest is the iPhone X. With the company’s flagship set to launch in November, it seems most Apple fans are holding out for the $999 device before upgrading.

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That's still a lot of people wanting an iPhone. We have a few of their stores here and I'm yet to see more than 2 or 3 customers in them at any one time. Personally I've never been inside any of their stores, there's simply no reason for me to go into one, even out of curiosity sake
 
That's what happens when you announce a new product then immediately make it obsolete by announcing the newer model. Apple knew what they were doing though. <--- no sarcasm.
 
Yea the majority of people dropping 800 on a phone wont hesitate to drop 1000 on a phone with a bigger cool factor.
 
With this news, maybe the fad is finally fading especially since I could get a decent desktop for a similar price...

My Samsung Smilie is still good enough for my present uses.
 
And not a single f-ck was given on that day... Oh and good job with the twitter post containing the F word.
 
Under this logic, one can make the claim that with every android based handset there is a zero turnout.

According to CIRP’s research, Android accounted for 67% of US phone activations from April – June 2017, up from 63% in the same quarter last year. iOS activations dropped from 32% to 31% in that stretch.

And this:

https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os

Share in Units Shipped -

Period Android iOS Windows Phone Others
2016Q1 83.4% 15.4% 0.8% 0.4%
2016Q2 87.6% 11.7% 0.4% 0.3%
2016Q3 86.8% 12.5% 0.3% 0.4%
2016Q4 81.4% 18.2% 0.2% 0.2%
2017Q1 85.0% 14.7% 0.1% 0.1%
 
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I am suprised apple even made the 8 model. It is same as 7 and 6s and 6. If they had courage there would not exist 8. I have had iPhone and android and there are things I like and dislike on both. Having phone brand religion is so silly. iPhones 10 seems exciting however.
 
According to CIRP’s research, Android accounted for 67% of US phone activations from April – June 2017, up from 63% in the same quarter last year. iOS activations dropped from 32% to 31% in that stretch.

And this:

https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os

Share in Units Shipped -

Period Android iOS Windows Phone Others
2016Q1 83.4% 15.4% 0.8% 0.4%
2016Q2 87.6% 11.7% 0.4% 0.3%
2016Q3 86.8% 12.5% 0.3% 0.4%
2016Q4 81.4% 18.2% 0.2% 0.2%
2017Q1 85.0% 14.7% 0.1% 0.1%

cool, but I think you are mistaking my caring about numbers. I was only commenting on the logic behind the assertion that turn-outs = sales.
 
Oh, Apple will probably say "it's because of pre-orders...there is no need to wait in line".
Maybe, just maybe people are finally waking up that the batch of phones coming out this year
is just like the batch that came out last year, which is just like the batch that came out the year
before that. Faster processors aren't needed, more megapixels are not needed, fancy colors
are not needed (since most put them in a case anyway). About the only thing that IS needed is
BIGGER batteries!
But, I'm sure people are just holding out for the iPhone 10 (whoops, sorry...that's binary 2, should be X).
 
This can mean 2 things.
1 ppl are finally getting it.. lining up for the next iphone is lame.
2 they are keeping their their energy to cue up for the iPhone X in November
 
According to CIRP’s research, Android accounted for 67% of US phone activations from April – June 2017, up from 63% in the same quarter last year. iOS activations dropped from 32% to 31% in that stretch.

And this:

https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os

Share in Units Shipped -

Period Android iOS Windows Phone Others
2016Q1 83.4% 15.4% 0.8% 0.4%
2016Q2 87.6% 11.7% 0.4% 0.3%
2016Q3 86.8% 12.5% 0.3% 0.4%
2016Q4 81.4% 18.2% 0.2% 0.2%
2017Q1 85.0% 14.7% 0.1% 0.1%

cool, but I think you are mistaking my caring about numbers. I was only commenting on the logic behind the assertion that turn-outs = sales.

Just adding detail ... chose your comment. Nothing more.
 
Oh, Apple will probably say "it's because of pre-orders...there is no need to wait in line".
Maybe, just maybe people are finally waking up that the batch of phones coming out this year
is just like the batch that came out last year, which is just like the batch that came out the year
before that. Faster processors aren't needed, more megapixels are not needed, fancy colors
are not needed (since most put them in a case anyway). About the only thing that IS needed is
BIGGER batteries!
But, I'm sure people are just holding out for the iPhone 10 (whoops, sorry...that's binary 2, should be X).

They probably stop hiring "actor"
 
Oh, Apple will probably say "it's because of pre-orders...there is no need to wait in line".
Maybe, just maybe people are finally waking up that the batch of phones coming out this year
is just like the batch that came out last year, which is just like the batch that came out the year
before that. Faster processors aren't needed, more megapixels are not needed, fancy colors
are not needed (since most put them in a case anyway). About the only thing that IS needed is
BIGGER batteries!
But, I'm sure people are just holding out for the iPhone 10 (whoops, sorry...that's binary 2, should be X).

They probably stop hiring "actor"

Would be funny if somewhere in apple code, version was parsed by a function expecting it to be only one char. Not realistic but still, funny.

Obviously everyone is waiting for X, they have been waiting for major changes for 2 years. They could have sold the iPhone X alone but I guess they needed a backup plan in case X wasn't on time.
 
The 8 is merely a stopgap model because the X wasn't ready for a September launch... Much like the SE or C models that used to drop in spring, any phones that Apple sells now are basically just gravy...

Before we sound a death knell for Apple, let's see how the X sells... bet the lines for that will be pretty big...
 
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