Apple taking risk with iPhone shortages

Quick thought,

Something we're missing here about supply/demand econmics when tied to pricing is that many of us waiting for an iPhone 4 to arrive is that many people are not paying retail price for these phones... yes, Apple sets the retail price for this product and that does have an effect, however many who are buying from a certain cellular company will be paying much less (yes I know the price is averaged out through length of contract but anyone who thinks that apple sells handsets to these companies at retail cost is an idiot). I would say these providers get iPhones at less than 50% retail to anywhere as low as 20% of retail... seeing as I'm paying 1/5th the cost of retail for my phone (when locked into a 36 month contract) I would bet that my phone likely cost my provider 40% of the retail cost. They eat half the cost for the phone, I pay the other half and they are secure in knowing they have about 30 months of guaranteed revenue coming in...

You really don't think that undersupplying the market isn't one of Apple's biggest PR wins?

Do you have any idea how much Nokia would give to get the coverage Apple gets on a launch day?

Oddly I agree....i was fired up to get the new iPhone but after sitting thru website crashes and wanting to avoid lines I kind of accepted I would have to wait for a month or so. Now that I have heard numerous complaints from friends about the antenna issue and the proximity issue I have decided not to upgrade.

Honestly, I think its a ploy to enhance the position of the device. If it's hard to get hold of and only a few of you have one, it increases it's desire.

Apple knows this thing is going to be hot. They have 3 previous versions to prove that.

Order from AT&T's website! I ordered on 6/29 at 930am and received on 6/30 at 1130am. Also, they only charge you tax on 199.99 not 574.00 like the AT&T store does.

A significant majority of the population would never consider using the phrase "supply chain management capability."

They would most likely use "I'll come back next week."

Agreed. You're not an idiot.
I was thinkin' Prick. Ya - we'll go with that. Seems to fit perfectly.
:-)

(Sent from my iPhone whilst standing in line to get free tickets to a Microsoft store grand opening concert! Woohoo!!)
/s

I'm one of the 600,000 pre-orders that didn't get one on launch day, because I did not have the time to wait in a half-mile line that was moving at the rate of 1 foot/minute. So I forfeited my pre-order and ordered on online that will be delivered on July 22.

I have a 3GS already, and I can wait.

I think anyone who really wants an iPhone 4 will wait for however long it takes to get one, and will not be persuaded to get something else.

The analyst is nuts. Sounds like the same sort of garbage "pundits" spew about how 1.7 million sold in the first three days (an unprecedented rate of sales, even for the iPhone) is somehow a "failure".

If that's failure, I don't want success, I guess

I have a factory-unlocked 32GB iPhone 3GS and a 64GB iPad 3G, and if I get a decent price for the 3GS from one of my family members, I will order the factory-unlocked iPhone4, despite everything negative that has been said & written about it.

Why? because I hope that by the end of the year, most of my closest family (here & abroad) will have the iPhone4 and we can at last have decent video calling over WiFi. We've had video-calls in the UK for years, but even the Nokia N95 has a crap front-facing camera, and calls cost £0.30 ($0.45) a minute. Skype doesn't really do it for us, especially so for those who are overseas. Even the most diehard Nokia users are smitten with the iPhone, and we're naturally patient people, so we'll wait until the white model hits the stores.

Yes, all the computers in my household are Apple Macs, but the rest of the close & extended family tend to use WinPCs, but some of them are beginning to realise the benefits of Mac OS and are slowly but surely beginning to migrate.

"1.7 million units sold by release day" - Err, I'm not sure this is entirely accurate. Apple stated that 1.7 million phones had been sold in the first THREE days on the market. Maybe you're thinking of the 600,000 pre-orders (which would be "by release day").