Neil HughesAnalyst Gene Munster polled 30 retail stores this week, and found that 16 of them had some stock. Most stores he checked with indicated they are receiving daily iPhone 4 shipments to meet up with supply.
Despite limited supplies, the situation is improving. Before July 10, there was no in-store availability, with 0 of 20 stores in stock. On July 26, Munster polled 5 stores and found 3 had the iPhone 4 available.
The continued limited supply, he said, is evidence that demand for the iPhone 4 remains strong despite the "antennagate" controversy, which erupted when users realized that covering the bottom left corner of the handset could reduce reception. Supply constraints are not a sign of a production slowdown, Munster said.
"We had expected near full in store availability in the U.S. by now, given it has been several weeks since the iPhone 4 U.S. launch (June 24)," he wrote. "Longer than expected supply shortages are not new to the iPhone. As a point of reference, in last year's September quarter conference call, the company indicated that iPhone supply was constrained in most countries through late Sept. or early Oct. due to better than expected demand of iPhone 3GS."
The iPhone 4 sold a record 1.7 million units in its first three days, making it the fastest selling Apple product in history. Munster believes that in the September quarter, Apple will sell 11 million units worldwide.
Piper Jaffray has maintained its overweight rating for AAPL stock with a price target of $371.
Thomas Sibilly
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
Christine McKee
52 Comments
I'm first....where's my white iP4?
I'm first....where's my white iP4?
I've given up on the white iPhone 4, I'll see what the options are at the iPhone 5 unveiling.
Better than our current stock position in most of Canada. If you polled 100 Apple or Rogers or Fido store, you would normally find 100 stores sold out. If they happen to have stock, they have 5-10x as many people as phones currently in line outside. Everyday in Toronto, Montreal and the other major cities hundreds of people are lining up before stores open without even knowing if the stores will receive stock that day. Of course, we are only 2 weeks in since our launch.
My carrier only has one store in Waterloo and we have a population of about 120K. They got their first shipment since launch this past Tuesday. They got 2.
One other part of this whole equation. While the iPhone 4 is what most are focusing on, I haven't seen anyone talk about how the 3GS is selling. After the new phone had been on sale for a short bit, we needed to go into the ATT store and adjust one of our plans. On talking with the store rep, he said that even though 3GS sales slowed down a little just before the iPhone 4 launch, they were still selling a good amount of the 3GS. Some of the 3GS are still being sold. Someone I work with who doesn't need the latest or greatest of electronics just got a new iPhone a week ago and was very happy with it. So I am left wondering/reminded of how many are there out there that don't need the latest and greatest of anything like we talk about on boards like this.
Better than our current stock position in most of Canada. If you polled 100 Apple or Rogers or Fido store, you would normally find 100 stores sold out. If they happen to have stock, they have 5-10x as many people as phones currently in line outside. Everyday in Toronto, Montreal and the other major cities hundreds of people are lining up before stores open without even knowing if the stores will receive stock that day. Of course, we are only 2 weeks in since our launch.
My carrier only has one store in Waterloo and we have a population of about 120K. They got their first shipment since launch this past Tuesday. They got 2.
From near I can tell, Rogers got far less stock than Bell or Telus. I got mine at Telus here in Guelph, and they had plenty in stock, was able to get one of the 32 GBs, and the nextdoor Rogers barely had any. Of course, there may also be a demand difference, as this is a relatively Rogers-dominated town.