More Apple pwnage

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
The 144,000 figure was from a different argument. The number is very approximate, since there are probably more than 1800 AT&T stores and certainly more warehouses.

Where did you get the 1800 figure. That seems like too many to me.

I was trying to impress upon you that there might in fact be a lot of iPhones idling on shelves.

Sure, but you have to compare that to total sales.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher

You can't BS your way out of this. Either way, the comment was ridiculous. When you splurge $600 on a brand new product that just came out (indicating a certain level of eagerness to buy it at a high price and so soon), you do not wait around to activate it for another day...even if this does happen, the amount of people would be incredibly insignificant.

I didn't say there were a lot that had not been activated, just some.

[Wiglaf]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Right side, middle bottom, it says over 1800 at&t stores.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher

The entire purpose was excess inventory! They cleared out every single one of the 60GB PS3s from stock. This was even publicly stated and very well documented. PS3s were highly hyped, sold well the first few weeks, then fell flat with demand. Sony cut the price to clear out inventory of the 60GB PS3 to try to revitalize lagging sales... sound familiar?

It is patently clear that you do not observe the market with as keen an eye as others here...

And it's clear that you don't post any sources.

[Wiglaf]

Want a link to an economics textbook?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kidicious
And it's clear that you don't post any sources.

Are you seriously just hearing this for the first time?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6177923.html

Initially heralded as a positive and necessary step in spurring lackluster sales of the console, the price cut received one significant caveat several days later. Speaking to a Norwegian gaming news site, Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Harai noted that a $499 PS3 would only be temporary, as once the current supply of 60GB PS3s had run its course, Sony would be offering only its $599 80GB PS3.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/76481-Sony-Says-No-More-60-GB-PlayStation-3-Inventory

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced it has no more stock of 60 GB PlayStation 3 models.

SCEA representative Dave Karraker said, "We no longer have any inventory in SCEA warehouses. All inventory has been purchased and shipped to retailers." However, he also said that according to information available to Sony, significant inventory levels remained in the field. "We don't have visibility as to if that is on their store shelves or in their warehouses at this time," he said, referring to PlayStation 3 stock currently in retailers' hands.

As I've said, it's clear you're not very attuned to the consumer electronics market.

BTW, that last quote should illustrate what companies like Sony and Apple mean when they say their product has been "sold and purchased"...they mean to retailers.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wiglaf

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Right side, middle bottom, it says over 1800 at&t stores.

Ok, but if AT&T risks the loss for those phones I doubt if they are keeping that many at their stores and not selling them.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Ok, but if AT&T risks the loss for those phones I doubt if they are keeping that many at their stores and not selling them.

What choice do they have? They buy the phones in bulk from Apple, and given the hype of the phone probably ordered a great many of them. Keep in mind the lag time in production and arriving in North American shores. They havent been able to sell them (see my above links on slow AT&T storesales). What do they do?

It's not like they can have a firesale on them. Apple decides the price. But guess what? They did devise a solution instead of keeping them in the stores and not selling them -- lower the price $200, and sell them! It's genius.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher

Are you seriously just hearing this for the first time?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6177923.html

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/76481-Sony-Says-No-More-60-GB-PlayStation-3-Inventory

As I've said, it's clear you're not very attuned to the consumer electronics market.

BTW, that last quote should illustrate what companies like Sony and Apple mean when they say their product has been "sold and purchased"...they mean to retailers.

Are you smoking crack?! Where does it say that there was excess stock in the supply chain that caused them to reduce their price?

[Asher]

What do you think their desire to "clear inventory" has to do with "excess stock"? Connect the dots.

They can't very well ship their new cost-reduced 80GB PS3s on retailer shelves if they keep having the 60GB version also, which were VERY provably slow sellers (and most stores had lots of supply). Their solution was to cut the price on the 60GB version to clear out the excess stock so they can replace it with the cost-reduced 80GB version.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher

What choice do they have? They buy the phones in bulk from Apple, and given the hype of the phone probably ordered a great many of them. Keep in mind the lag time in production and arriving in North American shores. They havent been able to sell them (see my above links on slow AT&T storesales). What do they do?

It's not like they can have a firesale on them. Apple decides the price. But guess what? They did devise a solution instead of keeping them in the stores and not selling them -- lower the price $200, and sell them! It's genius.

Asher, you are just making things up. You don't know what the sales terms are, and you don't know how the distribution is carried out. You're just assuming things about it that fit into your fantasy.

[Kuciwalker]

This discussion is painful even reading only half of the posts.

[Wiglaf]

change your avatar

[Asher]

It's a known fact of the lag time between China production and North American delivery.
It's a known fact that the iPhone was hyped up to great amounts.
It's a known fact that Apple somehow acquired a 5 year exclusive contract with the iPhone, demonstrating both strategic importance to AT&T and a willingness to give Apple something that amounts to unprecedented control over the product. This even includes the activation process, which -- for the first time -- can be done by a user at home, on his computer, using iTunes.

Given all of this information, we can make very educated guesses as to what occured. AT&T ordered a good deal of phones. It's strategically important to them, they clearly paid or otherwise sacrificed something to obtain the exclusivity. It's in their interest to promote the hell out of this phone, as it will win them customers over their competitors who do not have the iPhone.

Yet, we do know that AT&T iPhone sales suck. We know this. Sources have been provided.

Yet, we do know that actual activation rates on iPhones lag significantly behind Apple's "sold" figures. We know this. Sources have been provided.

Yet, we do know that Apple introduced a massive pricecut very early, something unprecented. This indicates that the old pricepoint was not going to get them the volume of phone sales they forecast. If it did, there's no point in dropping $200 per unit profit.

Putting all of this data together, it is very clear what is happening. No, you can't find a "link" with Apple confessing sales suck, with AT&T saying their stores suck compared to Apple's, or Apple complaining they priced it too high. All of these can be deduced by anyone with an analytical mind and basic background knowledge of the business sector.

So, there's no link for you with big font and pretty pictures to spell this out for you. But what's going on is pretty obvious. If you want the proof, take time and think about this instead of just disagreeing to be difficult.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher
What do you think their desire to "clear inventory" has to do with "excess stock"? Connect the dots.

They can't very well ship their new cost-reduced 80GB PS3s on retailer shelves if they keep having the 60GB version also, which were VERY provably slow sellers (and most stores had lots of supply). Their solution was to cut the price on the 60GB version to clear out the excess stock so they can replace it with the cost-reduced 80GB version.

That's not a case of a fall in forcasted demand. It's a case of clearing out and old product and moving in a new product. That said, I don't think it's normal. It think Sony didn't do a very good job.