Crystal ball
Following months of soothsaying, speculation, revelation and expectation, Apple’s desktop class (as powerful as a Retina MacBook) , and it looks like Apple’s got yet another hit on its hands.
Thank you Vitor in Sydney! One of the very first customers in the world to buy an iPhone 6s. pic.twitter.com/G0zdxNkuow
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 25, 2015Despite attempts to dismiss Apple’s ambition, the superfast iPhone 6S has a range of new features designed to excite interest, including iOS 9, a much improved camera, 3D Touch (aka Force Touch), faster processors, better connectivity and more.
Some analysts get it. Ian Fogg, Director of Mobile Analysis at IHS just this morning said:
“Sales of the iPhone 6S should do better than past iPhone initial sales because of wider country availability early, especially China. IHS forecasts Apple will ship 236 million iPhones this year, 22% up on 2014. Apple has changed the smartphone market. People spend more on their smartphones now than they did pre-iPhone and Apple has grown its share of the premium market at the expense of Samsung, LG and others. They have shaped the market as an Apple market.”
Up to 13 million?
Other than a robot in the queue in Sydney, I note the tradition for queuing for the new iPhone remains strong, a good suggestion of demand. Apple predicts the new release will exceed previous records. Again.
So, with the device going on sale in the U.S. today, what kind of impact will we see? Foursquare has used historical Place Insights data from both its apps, Foursquare and Swarm to analyze foot traffic at Apple Stores leading up to major iPhone launches. Based on this analysis they predict iPhone sales this weekend alone will reach between 11-13 million units.
You can even see what traffic at an Apple Store looks like through the week here. Over the last three years, traffic has increased by 300 to 400 percent on launch days over an average Friday, Foursquare explains. They have figured out a direct correlation between foot traffic and iPhone sales.
“Based off of early indicators, we predict that launch day traffic will be about 360 percent higher than preceding weeks. This likely means that iPhone sales will surpass previous records, in the 11 to 13 million range,” they explain.
Samsung, who?
Is this correct? Well, all the signs I’ve seen have shown the usual pre-release build up of iPhone demand. Sales of other smartphone models have tanked for the last few weeks, successive reports have indicated users of other platforms want to move to Apple’s, so clearly the company has managed to build up strong demand once again.
Samsung just doesn’t get it, of course. In London, the company made itself look foolish by attempting to troll the iPhone queue. Marketing types in blue jackets handed out blankets, pillows and water bottles to people in the queue, each bearing the Samsung hashtag #NextisNew. Was this good marketing or just yet another Samsung marketing fail? I know what I think, what about you?
Apple is about to set fresh records for smartphone sales as it consolidates its grip on an industry it helped create. The new iPhone 6S marks a major turning point for the company as it executes its vision for its platforms in the years ahead. With iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan both stripped for efficiency, you can predict some significant events for its platforms in the years ahead. It should be interesting.
Meanwhile here’s some videos from iPhone 6S launches across the globe.
Store employees setting up the iPhone displays in Japan last night...
China goes iPhone crazy (again)...
The first UK iPhone customer
Tell us about your iPhone 6S purchasing experience in comments below...
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