4 ms·

IPhone 5: Customers in the Big Apple camp out 8 days early

24 points by pohungc 14y ago

dexen 14y ago
Back in the day, when my (central-european) country was under soviet rule, people would queue and wait for hours to get essentials: from meat to toilet paper. Today -- this. Honestly, I can't comprehend -- either end of equation. Why is there shortage of devices, and why are people waiting so stubbornly -- especially given Apple's history of lowering prices a few months after launch.
- farhanpatel 14y ago
  These people aren't camping out to just get an iPhone. They are using the publicity to raise donations for cancer research. Most of the people are camping out for publicity, not for the phone.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- seivan 14y ago
  I take it you didn't read the article? Just asking, because I didn't know about this, but do Apple usually lower the prices after the initial launch? Isn't it like usually when they release upgraded models?
- xenophanes 14y ago
  What the heck are you talking about? Apple does not lower iPhone prices a few months after launch. Apple frequently doesn't lower prices on anything until the next model comes out. And I think day 1 lines have a lot to do with the stores being crowded with limited space and staff, not just supply. Also, ramping up factories to build this is hard. And you don't want to have an extra factory just for launch day, you want supply/demand balance longer term. You can build up some supply before launch but you don't want to delay launch for a long time to build up aging supply.
- evan_ 14y ago
  The only time in recent memory that Apple lowered the price of an iPhone- or any hardware- without releasing a new version was the first generation iPhone, 5+ years ago. It's very rare.
  - ihuman 14y ago
    And that was because it wasn't originally Carrier-Subsidized, if I remember correctly.
- jcurbo 14y ago
  There's a shortage of devices because people buy them as fast as Apple can make them.
josephlord 14y ago
TL;DR - Publicity seekers/marketing opportunists not hard core Apple fans.
- jrockway 14y ago
  The funny thing is how amazingly well this marketing works, especially in the era of blogs. I recently bought http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/159184553X http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator..., which talks about the fake news the author manufactures to sell his clients' products.
thornofmight 14y ago
Don't these people have jobs?
- arasmussen 14y ago
  If their job is in marketing or social media, it seems they are doing it.
- jws 14y ago
  Yes. Sitting in line for free publicity. It's worked for the first seven. (Note to Fortune: you failed to count to seven correctly.)
jpxxx 14y ago
Apple's got the tightest hardware, best performance, best sales channel, widest distribution, widest manufacturing channel, best service, best support, best third-party ecosystem, best carrier support, best -working- voice assistant service, best customer satisfaction, highest re-up rates, highest subscriber retention rates, highest ARPU, clearest UX, strongest developer support, widest app selection, highest ASP, best margin, best packaging, best pack-ins, most robust "cloud", deepest content library, widest content market coverage, highest perceived status, strongest brand name, and the thickest boot pressing into the necks of more carriers than any other smartphone line in the entire world. But all of this is going to be chalked up to "marketing" creating "sheeple" who voluntarily line up for the slaughter.
- te_chris 14y ago
  Most robust "cloud"? Really? You know their main competitor is google right? The company that has been responsible for millions of people embracing the cloud before apple even cared it existed?
  - batgaijin 14y ago
    Their main competitor is carrier phones that don't handle OS updates in a timely manner/at all. I have an android phone with cyanogen, but if someone complained about android I'd be totally understanding. The stock stuff is terrible.
    - w1ntermute 14y ago
      Uh, what's wrong with stock Android? The issue is with carrier/OEM modifications.
      - batgaijin 14y ago
        Sorry, that's what I meant.
  - jpxxx 14y ago
    Yes, really. I argue that iCloud is a more robust and coherent offering at this point. It goes toe-to-toe with Android Backup when it comes to backing up relevant user-state (like SMS history, a very valuable datatype), offers desirable features like find-a-phone and remote wipe, offers unsexy but fundamental functionality like Notes round-tripping, and offers ad-free IMAP mailboxes that don't explode on contact with desktop clients. iCloud still doesn't offer arbitrary file storage like Google Drive and its photo story is inadequate and confusing. But it is competitive on the whole, and Apple found some dogwhistle to blow that made "iCloud" a real thing for extremely tech-uninvolved people. (I'm not sure if this was anything they actually did on their part or if it was just coincident with the "cloud" buzzword coming to mean "I, the user, won't lose my stuff if my phone/laptop breaks") Also, Android backup is not a freebie: the manufacturer needs to be playing by OHA rules and staying in Google's good graces so that they can get access to all those Google-backed goodies. And then of course there's carrier-cloud and the vaporous S-Cloud and Asus cloud and all the third-party services and and.... and... Apple's put it together under one brand name and an ID you already have.
linuxhansl 14y ago
The pre-announcement of new hardware, the (what appears to be) artificial scarcity during the first weeks or months remind me of nightclubs with bouncers. No nightclub is cool without lines of folks in front of it, who want to get in. Personally I never watch a popular movie on the first weekend or stand in line for anything really (if I can avoid it). So from my viewpoint this looks like insanity. Whatever floats your boat. If camping out for 8 days to buy a phone makes you happy... More power to you. Edit: Spelling.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  It's been many years (if ever) since Apple tried to create scarcity to sell their phone. Every day that they are unable to sell a customer an iPhone because they don't have inventory, is a potential lost sale, as someone just buys a Galaxy S3, or decides to wait for the Lumia 920 - both of which are acceptable substitutes for the iPhone 5. Once that customer buys a competitors phone, they don't only lose out on the short term sale, they lose out on the content follow-ons, and, perhaps even worse, they lose out on the upgrade sale 2 years from now when (in North America) that person's contract comes up and they have to get a new phone. Apple's inability to build enough iPhones is going to cost them Billions of dollars of lost revenue. You can buy a lot of marketing for that kind of money, particularly at Apple's margins. So, no, there is no artificial scarcity at work here - just the sheer challenges of trying to manufacture 10s of millions of phones over a short period of time. This is not an easy thing to do.
eboyer 14y ago
yikes, did someone not tell these people about the pre-orders? they could of gone on with their lives and got it the same day from the mailman.
- xtdx 14y ago
  yikes, did someone not read the article?
  - njloof 14y ago
    Wait, these headlines on Hacker News link to stories? >click< Well, I'll be darned.
  - eboyer 14y ago
    wow, you guys sure are mad. my apologies.
pacomerh 14y ago
People lining up days earlier to get their iphones used to make me mad, knowing that you can just pre-order it online, no hustle. Now I just see it from a good perspective, these guys have their culture and want to be feel part of it, that's the reason right? I don't think their life is that boring that they have to do these things. It must be passion and excitement. Might sound obvious to some of you, not to me, I have a hard time assimilating this process.

24 points by pohungc 14y ago

dexen 14y ago

Back in the day, when my (central-european) country was under soviet rule, people would queue and wait for hours to get essentials: from meat to toilet paper. Today -- this. Honestly, I can't comprehend -- either end of equation. Why is there shortage of devices, and why are people waiting so stubbornly -- especially given Apple's history of lowering prices a few months after launch.

farhanpatel 14y ago
These people aren't camping out to just get an iPhone. They are using the publicity to raise donations for cancer research. Most of the people are camping out for publicity, not for the phone.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
seivan 14y ago
I take it you didn't read the article? Just asking, because I didn't know about this, but do Apple usually lower the prices after the initial launch? Isn't it like usually when they release upgraded models?
xenophanes 14y ago
What the heck are you talking about? Apple does not lower iPhone prices a few months after launch. Apple frequently doesn't lower prices on anything until the next model comes out. And I think day 1 lines have a lot to do with the stores being crowded with limited space and staff, not just supply. Also, ramping up factories to build this is hard. And you don't want to have an extra factory just for launch day, you want supply/demand balance longer term. You can build up some supply before launch but you don't want to delay launch for a long time to build up aging supply.
evan_ 14y ago
The only time in recent memory that Apple lowered the price of an iPhone- or any hardware- without releasing a new version was the first generation iPhone, 5+ years ago. It's very rare.
- ihuman 14y ago
  And that was because it wasn't originally Carrier-Subsidized, if I remember correctly.
jcurbo 14y ago
There's a shortage of devices because people buy them as fast as Apple can make them.

josephlord 14y ago

TL;DR - Publicity seekers/marketing opportunists not hard core Apple fans.

jrockway 14y ago
The funny thing is how amazingly well this marketing works, especially in the era of blogs. I recently bought http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/159184553X http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator..., which talks about the fake news the author manufactures to sell his clients' products.

thornofmight 14y ago

Don't these people have jobs?

arasmussen 14y ago
If their job is in marketing or social media, it seems they are doing it.
jws 14y ago
Yes. Sitting in line for free publicity. It's worked for the first seven. (Note to Fortune: you failed to count to seven correctly.)

jpxxx 14y ago

Apple's got the tightest hardware, best performance, best sales channel, widest distribution, widest manufacturing channel, best service, best support, best third-party ecosystem, best carrier support, best -working- voice assistant service, best customer satisfaction, highest re-up rates, highest subscriber retention rates, highest ARPU, clearest UX, strongest developer support, widest app selection, highest ASP, best margin, best packaging, best pack-ins, most robust "cloud", deepest content library, widest content market coverage, highest perceived status, strongest brand name, and the thickest boot pressing into the necks of more carriers than any other smartphone line in the entire world. But all of this is going to be chalked up to "marketing" creating "sheeple" who voluntarily line up for the slaughter.

te_chris 14y ago
Most robust "cloud"? Really? You know their main competitor is google right? The company that has been responsible for millions of people embracing the cloud before apple even cared it existed?
- batgaijin 14y ago
  Their main competitor is carrier phones that don't handle OS updates in a timely manner/at all. I have an android phone with cyanogen, but if someone complained about android I'd be totally understanding. The stock stuff is terrible.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    Uh, what's wrong with stock Android? The issue is with carrier/OEM modifications.
    - batgaijin 14y ago
      Sorry, that's what I meant.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  Yes, really. I argue that iCloud is a more robust and coherent offering at this point. It goes toe-to-toe with Android Backup when it comes to backing up relevant user-state (like SMS history, a very valuable datatype), offers desirable features like find-a-phone and remote wipe, offers unsexy but fundamental functionality like Notes round-tripping, and offers ad-free IMAP mailboxes that don't explode on contact with desktop clients. iCloud still doesn't offer arbitrary file storage like Google Drive and its photo story is inadequate and confusing. But it is competitive on the whole, and Apple found some dogwhistle to blow that made "iCloud" a real thing for extremely tech-uninvolved people. (I'm not sure if this was anything they actually did on their part or if it was just coincident with the "cloud" buzzword coming to mean "I, the user, won't lose my stuff if my phone/laptop breaks") Also, Android backup is not a freebie: the manufacturer needs to be playing by OHA rules and staying in Google's good graces so that they can get access to all those Google-backed goodies. And then of course there's carrier-cloud and the vaporous S-Cloud and Asus cloud and all the third-party services and and.... and... Apple's put it together under one brand name and an ID you already have.

linuxhansl 14y ago

The pre-announcement of new hardware, the (what appears to be) artificial scarcity during the first weeks or months remind me of nightclubs with bouncers. No nightclub is cool without lines of folks in front of it, who want to get in. Personally I never watch a popular movie on the first weekend or stand in line for anything really (if I can avoid it). So from my viewpoint this looks like insanity. Whatever floats your boat. If camping out for 8 days to buy a phone makes you happy... More power to you. Edit: Spelling.

ghshephard 14y ago
It's been many years (if ever) since Apple tried to create scarcity to sell their phone. Every day that they are unable to sell a customer an iPhone because they don't have inventory, is a potential lost sale, as someone just buys a Galaxy S3, or decides to wait for the Lumia 920 - both of which are acceptable substitutes for the iPhone 5. Once that customer buys a competitors phone, they don't only lose out on the short term sale, they lose out on the content follow-ons, and, perhaps even worse, they lose out on the upgrade sale 2 years from now when (in North America) that person's contract comes up and they have to get a new phone. Apple's inability to build enough iPhones is going to cost them Billions of dollars of lost revenue. You can buy a lot of marketing for that kind of money, particularly at Apple's margins. So, no, there is no artificial scarcity at work here - just the sheer challenges of trying to manufacture 10s of millions of phones over a short period of time. This is not an easy thing to do.

eboyer 14y ago

yikes, did someone not tell these people about the pre-orders? they could of gone on with their lives and got it the same day from the mailman.

xtdx 14y ago
yikes, did someone not read the article?
- njloof 14y ago
  Wait, these headlines on Hacker News link to stories? >click< Well, I'll be darned.
- eboyer 14y ago
  wow, you guys sure are mad. my apologies.

pacomerh 14y ago

People lining up days earlier to get their iphones used to make me mad, knowing that you can just pre-order it online, no hustle. Now I just see it from a good perspective, these guys have their culture and want to be feel part of it, that's the reason right? I don't think their life is that boring that they have to do these things. It must be passion and excitement. Might sound obvious to some of you, not to me, I have a hard time assimilating this process.