Three Days, Five Million iPhone 5s Sold - Don't Get Distracted by the Map App, 100+ Million Phones Also Updated to iOS 6

The weekend iPhone 5 sales numbers are in, and Apple has performed as expected, with a record five million devices having been purchased in the first three days of its release. For the record, the iPhone 4S sold approximately four million devices its first three days. No doubt there will be naysayers claiming that five million isn’t much of a number, that eight million would have been impressive, whereas five million merely meets expectations.


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Sure – tell that to Nokia, Microsoft and Samsung and let them feel good about it. It has been an impressive launch, and Apple has delivered exactly the phone most ‘Applytes’ want – a bigger screen, but not an unwieldy form factor. The proof is in the record sales. Currently available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK, the upcoming expanded international sales market, which will hit on Friday September 28, 2012 and add 22 additional countries - will easily add to the record sales pace. All in all the iPhone 5 will be sold in 100 countries by the end of the year – well inside the buying season window of opportunity.

An interesting issue that arises, however, is whether or not Apple will be able to meet demand relative to being able to manufacture enough iPhone 5s to keep up with that demand. It isn’t entirely clear but it appears Apple could have easily sold many more devices if it hadn’t exhausted its entire initial supply. Apple CEO Tom Cook notes that, "While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date."

Apple also notes that many phones will not become available until October. We ourselves anticipate that by the time the holiday buying season goes into full swing Apple will have completely stabilized its ability to meet orders.

iOS Downloads Also Huge and Maps Blown Out of Proportion

As we write, Apple shares are down to $690.36, from a recent high of $705.07 following Friday’s sales launch. That stock price decline has followed a collection of headlines screaming about Apple’s miss-step in releasing its own Map app with iOS 6 before the app was fully baked. As with most headlines of this sort, the biggest news was the headlines themselves – most of which overstate and simply sensationalize the issue well beyond its merits.

Apple will of course get the Map app up to its usual standards sooner than later. It was important for Apple – which has made three recent acquisitions in the mapping space – to get its own product out the door at the point in time that the single greatest number of users are going to update iOS, and hence their apps. Adding to the mix is the possibly 20 - 30 million iPhone 5s that will be added over the next three months.

There is simply no way Apple could have let this update opportunity roll by without taking advantage of it on the Map front. Better to get the app – which mostly works as advertised, regardless of its various glitches – out the door now and tweak as needed. So far, there are now are at least 102+ million fewer users of Google Maps, and from an Apple competitive standpoint that is not something Apple could have missed executing on. Before October 2012 is out, that number at a minimum will likely have doubled.

Those who’ve bailed on the stock and pushed it down to $690.36 are doing investors with a better longer term perspective of how the map scenario will “map out” for Apple a big favor.

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