back to article Apple 'hasn't really run out of iPhone 5s AT ALL'

In a revelation that seems set to shake the technology world to its very foundations, a clandestine Register source has informed us that secretive shiny-stuff behemoth Apple could easily supply more than enough iPhone 5s to meet initial demand: but that it deliberately chose not to. Our source, known to us only by the codename …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I feel used...

    There isn't an emoticon available to express my feelings of shock at this revelation.

    1. ItsNotMe
      Devil

      Re: I feel used...

      There...there now. It's OK. Not to worry...you have PLENTY of company.

      Afterall...it's not easy being a Lemming.

      1. icetrout

        Re: I feel used...

        you Maroons remind me of kid's in the 60's addicted to transistor radios... Like apple need's another billion to add to their stack of billions... stop buying that overpriced bullsh*t... put that cash into your own pocket & go out & buy the cheapest net-10 you can find.Apple & friend's will cut prices to the bone if you dis them for a year or two...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I feel used...

      Indeed, my source on twitter (@SamsungCopyDesk on Twitter) said this article was paid for by Samsung.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: I feel used...

      iSheep have plenty of company. Suckers. Baa, baa...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I feel used...

      The delays are great, it will give time for some iPhone 5 protective cases to appear on the market, and as to the nano sim card, where are they? Orange deny they exist, have never heard of them. So if you get yours on time, you'll have to wait two months for the sim to use it!

      1. JaitcH
        Go

        No Nano Cards?

        Giesecke & Devrient, Germany, have them ... if you are a carrier.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      APPARENTLY

      IF you pre ordered youR phone Apple have a little surprise in store, YES it will come with an adapter for the old plug FREE of CHARGE as an Apple thank you for buying the phone!

      Have to go, Elvis has come round to watch Eastenders........

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I feel used...

      "Some people will believe anything"

      Like the commenters on here that think El Reg's Dry Throat exists.

      1. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart

        Re: I feel used...

        "Some people will believe anything"

        Like the commenters on here that think El Reg's Dry Throat exists.

        No, No NO! this is just a clever double double bluff by elReg, they knew that by putting that line in the article it would give the impression that 'dry throat' does not exist, they you highlight the line and everyone then thinks its a double-bluff and that 'dry throat' does exist, but then I make a post saying that it is really a double bluff 'cos again elRel realised that this is what is going to happen, therefore want us to think that 'dry throat' does not exist, but elReg knew that we would spot the double-bluff when they put that line in the article, therefore 'dry throat' does exist .

        Q.E.D. - Simples!

        In other news, the iSheep have started queing at T-8 days

        In Oz they are advertising for professional queueers'

        But it’s not surprising that they are queuing so early given the huge demand surrounding the new sixth generation iPhone, or so says crApple anyway.

        FFS, it's only a phone!!!! (without NFC, bluetooth or a USB port, but it does have nice rounded corners)

        But it reminds me of an incident that happened in my hometown some years ago, a builder was building a new housing estate, a few days before the houses were due to go on sale, he rang up all the people who had registered their interest and told them that there was a lot of people interested in buying the houses and if they wanted a particular house that they should consider queuing up early, when a small queue (people sleeping in their cars) had built up he contacted newspapers and radio stations, which when they reported it caused even more people to join the queue.

        Pity one of the people he contacted about queuing was also a jurno on one of the newspapers he contacted.

        Suspicious? Moi? never!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I feel used...

        "Re: I feel used...

        "Some people will believe anything"

        Like the commenters on here that think El Reg's Dry Throat exists."

        Exists or not, the comments made are TRUE! idiotPhone owners will say anything to prevent them for knowing the truth, and feeling even more silly than they look to their peers.

    7. CaptainBlue
      Facepalm

      Re: I feel used...

      I just feel dirty at the thought of fondling mine ... which has slipped two weeks...

  2. Wild Bill
    Thumb Up

    See also

    http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/912172-wii-u-pre-orders-sell-out-in-america

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: See also

      The Wii U probably has sold out. The issue is that things like the Wii is that they are subject to seasonal demand. Investing in more production lines would cost a lot of money, and wouldn't really increase profits, since they would only be meeting a temporary spike in demand. After the spike, you have a lot of expensive machinery working at less than capacity. Okay, they make miss out on a few sales, but they are also avoiding the risk of over-investing in production. Plus, as a bonus, they get free publicity in the form of newspaper articles: "I can't buy a Buzz Lightyear/ Tickle Me Elmo / Nintendo Wii / Ferrari for love or money. What will I tell poor little Timmy this Christmas?"

      My favourite was Anne Robinson on Watchdog aggressively interviewing VW's UK head, for not making the new model Beetle quickly enough.

      "You are letting down the UK consumer by not selling them this new car!"

      "I'm sorry, but we are making them as quickly as possible"

      "But you are giving them them away! You gave one to Eric Clapton, will you give me one?"

      "Er No!"

      1. Mr_Bungle
        Holmes

        Re: See also

        Any delays were due to Apple trying to finalise patents on the following -

        1. Moving objects from one part of the world to another.

        2. The process of creating seemingly random connectors for devices (this involves rolling 2 dice, snake eyes gets your new iPhone a parallel port).

        3. Air.

        Sadly, only one was granted -

        Concocting a tsunami of bullshit that convinces the idrones to buy the same tired product for the 5th year running.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: See also

        I don't blame him, I wouldn't give Anne Robinson my piss if she was on fire.

  3. Andy 115
    Joke

    Some people will believe anything....

    Oh so true :)

    1. garbo
      Devil

      Re: Some people will believe anything....

      So it is true - "You [really] can fool some of the people all the time..."

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Some people will believe anything....

        Fixed it for you...

        So it is true - "You [really] can fool some of the people iSheep all the time..."

  4. Tom 38

    Team Register?

    No-one willing to put their name to this pile of shite?

    1. Richard 81

      Re: Team Register?

      And let the raging hoards of fanbois know exactly who to direct their wrath at? Oh yes, you'd like that wouldn't you?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Team Register?

        Just as long as it doesn't contain any marionette "adult" scenes, I'm happy.

    2. Velv
      Pirate

      Re: Team Register?

      I thought it was an interesting point of view.

      So, really, why is there such a delay. Assuming the phones are not already in the UK that means there is already a container transiting the Suez Canal, another container just crossing the Indian ocean, and a third being loaded in China as we speak - ooo, think of the Piracy opportunities. (and there must be at least one already unloaded in the UK to have them in the shops and on the doorsteps by Friday).

      Or are they flying them in - no wonder they're so expensive. And if they are already in the UK, again, why the delay. I think the unnamed El Reg team may well have found some truth.

      1. Tim Worstal

        Re: Team Register?

        Couple of years back the story was that Apple was buying out all of Cathay Pacific's trans-pacific cargo space.

        I think they do go by air....wouldn't be paying more than $3 a kg I wouldn't have thought.

        1. damager
          Black Helicopters

          Re: Team Register?

          You have stumbled upon one of Apple's secrets. THIS is why Apple are so concerned about making them smaller/lighter, to the detriment of battery life. To pack more in the shipping containers - to get more product shipped by volume for fixed costs.

          BTW, proud owner of an email saying my iPhone 5 was ordered and will be delivered on the 21st. :-D

          1. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
            Headmaster

            Re: Team Register?

            You have stumbled upon one of Apple's secrets. THIS is why Apple are so concerned about making them smaller/lighter

            Actually I think it was Samsung that made the iPhoney5 smaller, Samsung have moved to a smaller mask size for the latest A5 chip, resulting in a smaller chip that uses less power.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Team Register?

            "BTW, proud owner of an email saying my iPhone 5 was ordered and will be delivered on the 21st. :-D"

            Oh Dear!

            And you happily proclaim to being ripped?

      2. Steve Todd
        Stop

        @Velv - Apple tend to use air freight

        for this kind of release. Chances are they have been shipping plane loads of them for the last week or so, but if you ONLY count the 2 million that Apple claim pre-orders for that's about 166 40' shipping containers full.

        They will have spilt available stock between pre-orders, carrier orders (for the likes of O2 and AT&T to sell to their customers in their own shops) and retail orders (Apple Store, Carphone Warehouse etc). That probably adds up to 2 or 3 times the pre-order numbers.

        1. Colonel Mad
          Happy

          Re: @Velv - Apple tend to use air freight

          When you see a 40' container come out of a plane let me know!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: @Velv - Apple tend to use air freight

            http://www.ais-group.com.au/news-articles/sea-containers-arrive-by-air

      3. Synonymous Howard

        Re: Team Register?

        No one put their name to it because it was utter tripe designed as click-bait 8-/

        I suspect they are yet again selling more than they can produce...

        http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/09/17iPhone-5-Pre-Orders-Top-Two-Million-in-First-24-Hours.html

    3. Captain Hogwash

      Re: Team Register?

      Are you new around here?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Team Register?

      That's right, go shoot the messenger. Bunch of useless iSheep. Nice devices but way over-priced, for the unthinking with too much money to spare. Get an Android device and then go and give your spare $200 to a starving kid. No, thought not.

      1. Doug Petrosky 1
        Mushroom

        Re: Team Register?

        Ok I've read enough, It's not your stupid comment that annoyed me so much as the culmination of everyone before it. I mean seriously! Apple is going to sell over 5 million of these things in the first weekend, they sold 4 million iPhone 4S's last year in the first weekend. If you visit an apple store this weekend every employee will be constantly dealing with people. There is an absolute limit to how many phones Apple can process through in a single day. AT&T and Verizon's servers will probably both come down in the process.

        Accepting 2 million pre-orders, before staggering the roll out is reasonable.

        As for the BS over priced bla bla bla. Stupid comment that pushed me over the edge... The samsung Galaxy S3 16GB costs $199 on AT&T, just like the iPhone 5. Difference is the iPhone 5 will prove out to be faster in CPU and GPU benchmarks and real world tests.

        So, faster, thiner, lighter, with more media and applications available for it, and the number 1 rated company for customer satisfaction, service, and quality. It is little wonder that the iPhone 5 will be the hottest selling handset for the next 9+ months.

        It is a big deal because it is a big deal.

  5. Aaron Em

    A core of truth indeed

    Without Mr. Jobs, Apple is done for -- just like last time, during the ill-starred reign of the fizzy-water salesman, save that this time, there's no hope at all of the visionary's return. It just takes a little while for the collapse to get properly underway.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: A core of truth indeed

      Oh, you might be surprised. Most religions allow for the messiah to return from the dead, why should Apple be any different?

      What, too soon?

      GJC

    2. garbo
      Alien

      Re: A core of truth indeed

      Beware the unbelievers and quake. Recite the 23rd Psalm and submit. The Shepherd watches from on-high and sees all and hears the cries of his flock and loves them, and will lead as before but to more righteous and lighter and thinner and brighter pastures to share his ephemeral vision. It is so.

  6. Anonymous Custard
    Coat

    Does this also partially explain the recent lull in BOFH output - all the creative juices being flowed here instead?

    Or have you lot just been reading too many archived ones to pass the time?

    Still a fun read nonetheless, and sadly parts are too believeable.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ugh

    While it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that a company would artificially drum up scarcity, the quoted crap in the article sounds like it's coming from a typical dumb-as-fuck-yank that's been raised believing that methamphetamine is actually good for you (also believes the CIA supply the zetas etc etc).

    1. Andy Farley

      Re: Ugh

      You do know it's made up don't you? Not the conclusions but the quote. Pretty obviously humour rather than fact.

      1. AndrueC Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Ugh

        The content of this article has not yet been approved by Apple therefore the faithful may struggle to correctly categorise it.

      2. Arctic fox

        @Andy Farley: What I find entertaining about reading this thread it noticing............

        ..............that some people really are "satire-dyslexic", they do not recognise it even when it is about as subtle as a lump hammer. The righteous indignation, the fury, the total incomprehension. I got past the first paragraph with the article filed in my head under "Reg Wind-ups" (other than of course that the shortage could in reality be artificial).

    2. Avatar of They
      Thumb Down

      Re: Ugh

      Isnt' that most Apple employees?

  8. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Bronek Kozicki
      Go

      Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

      I wish to remind you that "Bootnotes" section this has been posted to is certainly appropriate for satire , pastiche or works of fiction. Take the hint and go grumbling somewhere else.

      1. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
        Joke

        Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

        No it's not humorous, humorous is made from chick peas and flavoured with lemon, coriander and/or garlic

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

      My butt... It hurts...

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. Stuart Elliott
          Mushroom

          Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

          If only there was a system where we could select what sections of the site we want to read, that way, us boring farts can never see the Bootnotes section ever again,

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

            "If only there was a system where we could select what sections of the site we want to read, that way, us boring farts can never see the Bootnotes section ever again,"

            There is, El Reg couldn't afford to license the patent from ... *coughs*

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

      As someone who sells the fruity kit, I know Apple don't like giving their resellers much stock. We managed to convince our higher ups to let us receive the stock directly from Apple and we still run out fairly frequently.

      Still, that's nothing on the cost they charge us to remove the displays if they decide to stop dealing with us.

    4. John Bailey
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Is this supposed to be humorous?

      "It's certainly not accurate. Is it even news-worthy?"

      And how would you know?

      "I'm not fanboi, "

      And I'm not a racist.

      I however, am not following my statement with some drivel that contradicts the prior statement quite conclusively.

      It's a bit if fun. Humour. A reaction to the ever present fanboy hoard who are seizing on every little sound bite and broadcasting the "truth" to the world. I saw on a gadget blog a little while ago, AT&T is claiming that they have more pre orders than they had for the last iPhone.

      Number.. Sorry.. Can't say.

      Time period? Nope.

      Area of calculation.. Classified.

      So in other words.. meaningless.

      Unless one is a fanboy, in which case, it is clear proof that the fifth coming is even more shiny and magical and positively dripping in unicorn emissions.

      This story.. Funny, baiting the fanboys, and actually.. quite plausible. Some of the stuff I've seen reported from the rallies is similar in factual content to a BNP manifesto. So being economical with supply for pre orders deliberately is not in the least unbelievable.

      Mine's the one with the funny looking phone I found in the pub last week.

      1. Arctic fox

        Re: "Mine's the one with the funny looking phone I found in the pub last week"

        I'd be careful about that if I were you. You could end up with your house being ransacked by a team that includes people from A Famous Mobile Phone Company pretending to be police officers.

        1. John Bailey

          Re: "Mine's the one with the funny looking phone I found in the pub last week"

          God point.. I'd better hide if after I see who is at the door.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A man down the pub

    At least this time they resisted the urge to leave one in a pub to get accidentally found by someone who just so happenes to have an apple friendly tech blog. And then very publicly threaten to take them to court to get it back, while actually just paying them for the write up.

    Oh right, they only do that when it actually has new features, or some WOW factor.

    ....

    Or at least that is how it seems, allegedly, in my opinion, etc..etc.. (don't take me to court I can't afford it.)

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: A man down the pub

      I think the person who found it sold it to a tech blog. Your deliberate leak theory (in the finest tradition of Yes, Minister) would be plausible, except for the bad publicity Apple got for sending private security staff round to search a citizen's house whilst the uniformed cops stood outside.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    Didn't people learn ANYTHING from Nintendo Wii?

    If you fool idiotic consumers that something is desirable, because it's sold out, then the morons will queue up for any old crap.

    1. Lee Dowling Silver badge

      Re: Didn't people learn ANYTHING from Nintendo Wii?

      Strange. I'm pretty sure there were at least 5 years where you could just walk into any store at any time and buy a Wii. Even at Christmas (though it became more tricky, it was certainly nowhere near impossible).

      Maybe for the FIRST Christmas, but that people were still buying them years later, even after lots of other competitors were released and most people had one, might just point at them actually being a popular device rather than some propaganda sale.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Stop

        Re: Didn't people learn ANYTHING from Nintendo Wii?

        You only have to kick the hype train off, it will roll for years before braindead consumers work out they were fooled.

        The Wii-U will flop as consumers will vow to to be conned again in the same way by Nintendo.

  11. Annihilator
    Happy

    "So much to do at Cartmanland, but you... can't... come (especially you, Stan and Kyle)"

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0705906/

    1. JohnG

      South Park

      I thought you were going to reference the episode when Cartman can't wait for a new Nintendo and freezes himself but ends up way too far into the future.....

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0890648/

  12. Mondo the Magnificent
    Devil

    *Yawn*

    How can a single product fuel so much speculation, both fact, fiction and sheer bullshit?

    Sadly it's coming through so fast and thick, anyone with half a brain just ingores it...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: *Yawn*

      "Sadly it's coming through so fast and thick, anyone with half a brain just thinks PPPFT! iDEVICE and ingores it..."

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LOL

    Whilst the article is obviously taking the piss, there is obviously some truth here. There is no way they can be short at launch unless they want to be.

    1. Tom 38
      FAIL

      Re: LOL

      Apple contract manufacturing out, and can build a certain number per week - lets say 10 million - which they can then ship out worldwide.

      When they launch a new phone, this means the design has gone to the manufacturer, and they are assembling them as fast as they can. Production continues at 10 million a week, shipping new containers full of phones every week.

      After 3 weeks, they have enough stock arriving in markets to start selling them, whilst still churning em out at the factory. They have initial orders of 50M, and 20M stock, with 10M new units arriving each week.

      This means they immediately sell out, with a backlog of 3 weeks.

      Your contention is that they could avoid this "if they wanted to". To avoid this, they would need twice as much manufacturing capacity, which would be very costly, and after the initial rush of orders, they would not need anywhere near as much capacity.

      Therefore, they would have to spend an exorbitant amount of money in order to speed delivery to the early users by 2-3 weeks, and then have that expensive manufacturing capacity lie fallow until the next refresh. Plus, as has been pointed out several times, there is the cachet of desirability indicated by stock selling out.

      So yes, entirely in their hands, except they aren't morons who would bankrupt the company building unnecessary capacity.

      1. Big_Ted
        Facepalm

        Re: LOL

        Or start manufacturing them 3 weeks earlier by stoping production of the 4S which has seen sales figures drop due to the 5 coming soon press stories....

        so no you don't need more capacity just to stop making so many of the old version which won't sale hardly at all for a few weeks until they are cheap enougth

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: LOL

          Tom 38 is correct. It is for much the same reason that countries who are not currently at war export arms to countries who are. If you are threatened with conflict, you want to make as many weapons as you can, as quickly as you can- without the usual regard for doing so economically. This means that after you have finished your fight, you are left with a lot of expensive production lines left over. To recoup the cost, it is necessary to sell arms to developing nations.

      2. Stuart Gepp
        Holmes

        Re: LOL

        Maybe they could have chosen a later launch date when they had enough to meet initial demand - no extra capacity needed.

        It is marketing hype. They are within their rights to do it but the gist of the article seems pretty much spot on.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: LOL

        Bankrupt the company?

        A company with $117 billion cash reserves.

        A product with a bill of materials around $167.

        Rrrrright.

        1. Tom 38

          Re: LOL

          They got the cash reserves because they don't do moron things like sit on stock for 3 weeks so you can produce enough shiny for launch date, and instead spread sales over several months.

          I'm amazed some of you can tie your shoes, this is simple supply chain 101.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: LOL

            ha.. brilliant stuff. Keep it up.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: LOL

        Samsung had twice as many preorders for the S3, and they had no delivery problems at all

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: LOL

          "Samsung had twice as many preorders for the S3, and they had no delivery problems at all"

          Apart from the cock up with the blue one you mean!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: LOL

            ""Samsung had twice as many preorders for the S3, and they had no delivery problems at all"

            Apart from the cock up with the blue one you mean!"

            MMMEH!

  14. John G Imrie
    Pint

    Dry Throat

    Have one on me

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Love the timing. At 12:09, El Reg posts this.

    At about the same time, Apple announce that they've sold over 2 million in 24 hours. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/09/17iPhone-5-Pre-Orders-Top-Two-Million-in-First-24-Hours.html

    Someone is clearly wrong, me thinks.

    1. spiny norman
      Go

      Why is someone clearly wrong?

      They don't actually say they've sold 2 million, as in the customer has their phone and Apple has the money. It's 2 million pre-orders, which means people lying in bed at night dreaming of the happiness that will be theirs eventually.

      Which doesn't preclude Apple deliberately restricting supply, by knowingly launching before they have the volume in the shops that, based on previous launch figures, can't be that hard to predict.

      Good article actually, not only provocative and funny, but also believable.

      1. Mark .

        Re: Why is someone clearly wrong?

        Indeed, and IIRC Samsung Galaxy S3 pre-orders were near 10 million. Plus that is just one of many Samsung models. Even if there is truth, it just biases things towards Apple, where people seem more likely to buy the latest one the moment it appears, but also, the fact that there's only one phone released a year means everyone on that platform is more likely to buy all at once. With Android, phones are released all year round, so you don't have to wait ages, then rush out and buy it.

        The flip side is that whilst Apple may do better in the "X sold in Y days", their sales do far more poorly later in the year, whilst Android phones are solid all the year round. Where's the publicity for "Apple's sales drop by a massive 10 million, whilst Samsung's rise to 50 million, now twice that of Apple's", as happened in Q2 2012?

        All the pre-order and first week stats are pretty meaningless, and it's all spin and marketing how they are used. If we care about sales, just look at the quarterly sales figures that are published (e.g., look up on Gartner). And make sure we do it every quarter, rather than just publicising it only the quarter after Apple release a new phone.

        Also consider how the media will spin Apple's sales as being great, independent of any measure of how good it really is. E.g., remember the "one million sold in 76 days" for the original Iphone? That's nothing - it's nothing now (Nokia's first WP phone managed the same sales figures, but was viewed as poor by the media!) and it was nothing back then (Nokia were selling 10-20 million Symbian smartphones a quarter). In general, it's nothing - Samsung and Nokia sell a million phones *a day*, all year round, so Apple doing it in 76 days is poor, especially when it was after a product launch that was massively hyped for months by the media. But no, despite this, "one million in 76 days" was for years hailed as some kind of almighty benchmark.

    2. Mark .

      For comparison, Android is now at about one million smartphones per day. All Year Round.

      At first you might say, wow, now Iphone will gain at twice that rate - but this is not all year round. Firstly you've got included in that figure loads of people who have been waiting for months to order one - indeed, let's remember that rumours of the Iphone 4SS, sorry, 5, have been going in the media for a staggering 18 months now. Secondly, the evidence is that the Iphone sales are very seasonal, being high shortly after a new release, but tailing off for the rest of the year.

      Interesting how years ago, we'd hear about "Android vs Iphone" in the media, so they could say Iphone was most popular (conveniently forgetting that it was actually Symbian number one, and Blackberry number two for much of that time) - but now, you hardly ever hear about it. That wouldn't be so bad it if was because everyone knew that Android was miles ahead - but with so many websites and companies still only catering for Iphone, and every other TV advert seemingly saying "Works with Iphone" "Get this on the App Store" etc, some people don't seem to have got the memo.

      No, instead today, we hear irrelevant comparisons of how Apple's sales compare well to just one single phone out of thousands of Android devices.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        That Android figure is across all products, not just phones. The million number also includes a lot of shit that can't really be called "smartphone".

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "That Android figure is across all products, not just phones. The million number also includes a lot of shit that can't really be called "smartphone"." in your worthless opinion.....

  16. Big_Ted
    Facepalm

    Not again...........

    When was the last time they released an iphone or iapd that was OOS within a couple of hours for online ordering.

    They know that they will have at least x million online sales by the release day so it would not be hard to get together with Foxconn etc to arrange to have that many plus as many extra needed for resellers and network operators etc and a date when they would be ready.

    Its not "Magical and revolusionary" thinking after all, its simple business practice. They obviously want people to think there is a limited supply so they que up at the Apple stores and get online stories about shortages, its the cheapest publicity possible and has the added benifit of getting the Fanbois foaming at the mouth to buy something they don't need if they already have a 4S anyway......

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It doesn't end there

    What Dry Throat nefariously refused to reveal is that Apple is holding back those millions and millions of devices because for some reason they were erroneously delivered with a micro usb connector!

    And they expect all those manufacturers of external devices (you know who you are) to breathe a collective sigh of relief now that they are no longer forced to include old iCrapple connectors in their stuff. Instead they can escape the evil grasp of Jobs (egoJ) by switching to that usb thingie.

    Within days the new devices will swarm the market and Apple will announce the iPhone 5usb!

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    As The Saying Goes

    "Many a true word spoken in jest."

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Though I fear that The Onion did it better :)

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/apple-announces-new-iphone-with-nword-on-back-know,29531/

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Though I fear that The Onion did it better :)

      Almost as good as their "Apple releases MacBook Wheel, with predictive sentence technology" scoop...

  20. someone up north

    it shows you do can fool all the people all the times !

    in the US of states, you do can fools all the people all the times,

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Invitation to Apple product launch

    Never. Not even if hell freezes over.

    ..but I guess you didn't think there was much of a risk anyway.

    So on balance probably worth the LOLs

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Writing Style

    The writing style of the author doesn't seem like it would match someone with an inside track into management of apple. It sounds more like an Fandroid gone crazy.

  23. Dana W
    Happy

    And they said I was mad.

    Glad to see the Tinfoil hat crowd out in force today.

  24. TechicallyConfused
    Facepalm

    Only because I am lazy. . . .

    I see history in danger of repeating itself. I see Apple heading back the way it went year ago when it moved from the DTP sweetheart to lodged so far up its own arse it couldn't even interface with itself.

    I am bought into the iPhone, iPod, iPad, iTunes hook line and sinker but not because I love Apple or think the iphone or iPad is better than the rest. . . I am just too lazy to be arsed to try and sort out the mayhem of moving all my media to a different device - especially the stuff bought at the iTunes store. . . is there an easy way to do this. . . again I don't know and sad to say this is once again due to apathy.

    That said, if Apple continue to tote mediocre, incremental improvements as ground breaking stuff then even I will find myself telling them to fuck off and I'll buy myself a Galaxy or Windows 8 device.

    Love iTunes simplicity

    Hate iTunes stupid high prices

    Ambivalent to the iPhone/iPad

    Hate the poncy twats that run the company

    J

  25. Stevie

    Bah!

    This latest outrageous revelation from Applezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Jennifer Government

    I think Max Barry was onto something with his novel Jennifer Government.

    Will Apple go the whole hog and employ a thug to shot and steal one in the name of sales.

  27. danny_0x98

    Obvious Secrets

    They clearly set aside an allotment for pre-orders. This time it was 2 million. The allotment sold out faster than last year's allotment. I would not necessarily ascribe that to increased demand: it could be that some folks are thinking "Lines, ugh, been there, done that."

    Apple wants to have something for the liners-up to take home next weekend. The lines are visual and make the local news headline. Probably better marketing than the t-shirt with logo.

    Besides, a happy customer in a store is a promising sales opportunity for accessories and services. The carriers understand this as well. If you sell out all inventory via the internet, you left money on the table.

    Now, this US-ian visited a Sprint store yesterday to talk about getting an iPhone. They confirmed my suspicion that there are time-derived allocations. X for pre-orders, X1 for the first weekend, and X1 + X2 for the first fourteen days, etc. The folks there expect lines.

    As the 2010 iPhone came out in June of 2010 (AT&T and Verizon), I expect almost all of those who got their iPhone 4 from June through September are chomping at the bit to upgrade, now that premature cancellation fees are off the table. Apple will set some records for volumes.

    The Sprint folks, veterans of the 4s introduction, think initial demand won't be as crazy as they saw for the 4s. We'll see. They do have a point in that all their iPhone customers are at one year or less on their contracts.

    Just in case the author or readers supportive of the author's thesis go into the phone manufacturing business, let me remind them that any customer who walks into a store looking for one type of phone and finds it out of stock, may decide to get a different manufacturers' model. ("Ooh, sorry, no iPhone 5's. We'll get more on Monday. You know, a lot of our customers have been really happy with this Galaxy S III.") The carrier prefers that the customer walks out with a phone and a contract that day, and, indeed, may be incentivizing its employees to move other stock since shortages for the big news items opens a door. Creating artificial scarcity for publicity is risky in the phone business.

    Manufacturing and inventorying units in excess of initial demand is also costly and causes one to pay more as factory lines are ramped up, shut down, and restarted when the units have sold through. The more initial volume, the longer the lead time or the more costlier manufacturing as the factory owners charge a premium for overtime and extra shifts. The goal is not sheer numbers, it's to find the right number that maximize profits.

    Plus, I don't really see as how lots of people being told "You'll have to wait two weeks for your iPhone." translates into demand from those who were otherwise uninterested in the product or market sector.

  28. toadwarrior
    Facepalm

    Considering Anna puts her name to some real tripe, the fact no one will put their name to this says it's about as credible as any claim to the existance of big foot.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Who is?

      There is a way of finding out, or at least giving a good probability... What you do is assemble all articles by each Reg writer into individual ZIP files. You then add all Team Register articles to each archive, and whichever ZIP file increases the least is most likely to be your culprit. Obviously, the accuracy improves the more text you have to work with, and may well be skewed by subject matter, i.e Dabs might use the word 'Apple' than Page does.

  29. Gordon Pryra

    @Team Register?

    I’m used to many down votes, people don’t get my sense of humour (or understand my shit spelling, whatever) but I must admit, I’m jealous of your 39 in 3 hours!!

  30. Ilsa Loving
    Angel

    Or maybe....

    Foxconn just wasn't able to coerce enough interns to pump out more product?

  31. SilverWave
    Happy

    Thanks for that :-D *tears of laughter*

    Class :-P

  32. Arachnoid

    Stock is dead money in any buisness so you keep it to a minimum and just having it out of reach to many makes it even more desirable to some.

  33. gkroog
    Linux

    GKroog

    Yawn. Is anyone surprised that Apple would pull a stunt like this? They've been "shameless about stealing great ideas," taking the unpatented IP of other manufacturers (because everyone seemed to be able to behave themselves before), sprinkling some shiny on it, and patenting it as their own. Now they want to sue everyone. Google took an idea like Apple did and Steve Jobs called it "stolen" and wanted to destroy it. That had NOTHING to do with it being "stolen" (like some of Jobs' "innovations"?), but it did have EVERYTHING to do with the threat it posed to iOS. Apples shiny stuff does great when its the only shiny thing around, but when someone else makes something competitive with rounded corners (which Samsung brought out on their F700 6 months before the iPhone appeared), the cool kid on the playground turns into a bully. That puts me off Apple itself, and all its products. It rather have anything EXCEPT an iPhone...especially since the competition is better specced in almost every way...

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the bleedin' obvious

    To state the bleedin' obvious, Apple do have control over when they launch a new product. So if they decided to launch on a day when they know they will not have enough stock to satisfy projected demand, it must be because they want to. Or alternatively, they do know they have enough stock but deliberately decide to spin it as if they don't.

    So... if it was detrimental to launch on a day when they know they will have insufficient stock, they would be idiots to do so. Regardless of what you think of Apple's products, not many would doubt their marketing prowess.

    Therefore, I conclude that Apple have spun a tale to hype demand.

    And I came to that conclusion without the assistance of an 'insider'.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Team Register ...more articles from this author ???

    Anonymous authors now, do we ? Play it subtle, Lewis.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well...

    It's just a f**king phone people.

    A f*cking phone

    A phone

    A phone !!!

    Arghhhhh!!!!!!

  37. maccy
    Coat

    and if they have or haven't run out, why should I care?

    IT

    IS

    A

    PHONE.

    How is it _possible_ to give a flying fuck about a phone? It makes calls, it connects to the internet, it farts, it plays a few games.

    Obviously I'm not the target market.

    Mine's the one with the TC in the pocket (the H fell off a week ago)

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They actually fly the damned things in. As far as I've seen, apple doesn't slow-boat anything that is serialized. Things that do come surface shipping are iPad cases, power adapters, cables, docks, etc. Everything else comes in via 747 class freight haulers direct from china to JFK (for the east coast at least.) 27" Thunderbolts? 8 to a pallet, 44lbs each double stack maximum height, by air.

    Posting anonymously because I'd rather not have my employer tell me to fetch my coat for talking about things...

    I walked down an aisle on Friday and couldn't help but speak the words: My God! Its full of Lightning Adapters! as I progressed... I think Apple is betting on selling 3-4 adapters for every iPhone 5 and/or iPod Nano 2.0...

  39. Melonfarmer
    FAIL

    Getting old and boring

    Everytime Apple bring out a new version of their phone, tablet, iPod, laptop, desktop there is a horde of people going on about isheep and cults of Apple and etc etc, they say how boring it is that Apple have not brought out anything new, well I for one find it even more boring hearing the same shite from the same people year after year. If you don't like an Apple product then don't fucking buy it, simple as that.

  40. Sil
    Joke

    iPhone 5 > all

    The iPhone 5 is the best phone period.

    Proof:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdIWKytq_q4

    ;-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iPhone 5 > all

      Typical idoitPhone user before your very eyes!

  41. Ben Rosenthal

    ...in a dance as old as time.

  42. MechaNikos
    Stop

    Yes we get it! You don't like Apple and they don't like you.

    Nice army of anonymous informers and insiders about a company you love to hate. I wonder how much you pay them. What is beyond me, is why you care so much about something you have so vigorously dismissed in the past. Could it be because you didn't buy AAPL in time?

  43. lord_farquaad

    I doubt there is any nervosity in Cupertino at the time being about selling iPhone 5

    I doubt there is any Dry Throat. Or, in any case, he is saying a lot of nonsense in the middle of plenty of perfect sense.

  44. ukpm

    Nonsense

    I'm sorry, but this article was a waste of pixels.

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