iPhone 4S Record Sales - Who's Really Disappointed?

As the reality and disappointment in the tech community set in that Apple wasn't going to be releasing a new iPhone 5, just a modified iPhone 4, consumers came away from the Apple special event with clearly a different take as evidenced by their actions when they got their first chance to preorder a new iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 4S pre-order period ended with record sales surpassing (by nearly 400,000 units) the record sales set forth during the iPhone 4 preorder period.

"CUPERTINO, California—October 10, 2011—Apple® today announced pre-orders of its iPhone® 4S have topped one million in a single day, surpassing the previous single day pre-order record of 600,000 held by iPhone 4."

Why such a disconnect between the media takeaway of the Apple Special event and the consumer who clearly ignored this negative sentiment with an overwhelming eagerness to get their hands on a new iPhone 4S?  Really, the answer is quite simple.

Needless to say, Apple has built quite a reputation on creating quality products.  Whether you're a fan of them or not, you can't deny that their products connect with an overwhelming number of consumers.  If you're a techie, you can gripe that the iPhone is limited in customization options (without jailbreaking), but, in being objective, you have to admit that the iPhone is solid in nearly every aspect from form to function.  There's little disagreement that it's the industry standard (even if you're an Android fan).

If you're a consumer, you're not worried about any (or at least most) of these technical nuances.  When you take your new iPhone out of the box, it looks great.  You turn it on, it looks even better.  You immediately go to use it and there's virtually no learning curve in getting started with the basic functions.

If you view the iPhone 4S from this vantage point, let's look at what you get.  The iPhone 4S has the same great design that the iPhone 4 had, but it will be faster, loaded with new software features, a better camera and video recording capabilities, and a new voice operated assistant.  Of course the consumer's reaction is going to be, "Wow!".  Your friend loves their iPhone, there's no way I'm not going to love the new one even more!  You get my point.

For the most part, the general consumer is not overly concerned and, in many instances, may not even be aware of all of the small details that come under the hood of the new iPhone 4S.  They may not realize that it's essentially twice as fast as the iPhone 4, boasting 7x improved graphics performance.  They may not even understand what the new notification system and iMessage software enhancements will mean to them in terms of improved performance and overall usability.  They may not even realize that Siri software is the foundation behind the new voice operated assistant.  These are mere details that the tech community delves into and is left to sort out while the consumer is going to stick with the general tag lines that Apple and Apple owners market so well.

From the tech side, they were widely anticipating and eagerly waiting for the "oh, there's one more thing" and the "one more thing" was supposed to be the new iPhone 5.  When that didn't show, neither did their overwhelming excitement and positive reviews for the new iPhone 4S!

iPhone 4S Pre-orders - Apple Sold Out!

Only a few short days ago, most reviews from tech insiders were rather critical of Apple's announcement of the new iPhone 4S.  It was widely anticipated that Apple was going to release a new iPhone 4S, but it was also expected that Apple would unveil a new iPhone 5.  That didn't happen.

As for consumers, they clearly have a different take on Apple's announcement!  iPhone 4S pre-orders are already sold out internationally and here in the states.  1-2 week shipping times are now being indicated on Apple's online store website.

AT&T has also announced that they've seen "extraordinary demand" for the new iPhone 4S with preorders topping 200,000 in the first 12 hours!  The press release goes on to state that these numbers make the iPhone 4S the most "successful iPhone launch" that AT&T has ever had.  In comparison, the iPhone 4 had a total of 600,000 preorders (in total, across all wireless carriers).

Things are looking pretty good for Sprint, too.  They've already sold out of the 16GB iPhone 4S model.

iPhone 5 Release Date Delayed?

Yes, as you can imagine, the iPhone 5 rumors are beginning to fly fast and furious and the most recent reports are indicating that there may be some hiccups with the new iPhone 5 release date.

According to 9to5 Mac, it appears that the iPhone 4S (dubbed to be a lower-end iPhone, nearly identical in form to the existing iPhone 4) is moving along nicely through production and should launch in early October (widely expected to be October 7, 2011) and there will be plenty of supply for consumers to get their hands on one.

However, there's a different tune with the new iPhone 5 release date and it appears that this higher-end, newly designed, iPhone 5 is facing potential production delays.

It appears that the tear-drop shaped iPhone 5 with larger screen and thinner, rounder body is seeing continued design and production delays, at least on one assembly line (Apple has multiple production sources – Pegatron, Foxconn, etc). We therefore think that iPhone 5 will be delayed slightly at the very least and may see shortages all the way into 2012. - Source 9to5 Mac

With that said, and as usual, stay tuned as more of this story will certainly unfold since we're getting awfully close to the new iPhone release date - whatever it turns out to be!

iPhone 5 Release Date News - Verizon Moving iPhone 4 Accessories

The latest iPhone 5 release date news, rumors, and speculation comes from a tipster who alerted Phone Arena (a tech blog) that Verizon wireless is beginning to discount iPhone 4 accessories.  If the tipster's leak is found to be credible, then that would indicate that Verizon wireless is looking to move inventory of iPhone 4 accessories (ahead of the next generation iPhone release date) to make room for the next generation iPhone accessories.

Latest Rumors Pointing Towards an iPhone 5 Release Date?

This latest iPhone rumor would also indicate that we may be looking at an iPhone 5 release date instead of the potential iPhone 4S release date we've been hearing a buzz about lately.

If you're not up to speed with the latest iPhone rumors, recent speculation has been hinting that Apple has been having issues with an overheating A5 chip (supposed next generation iPhone processor).

Consequently, an iPhone 5 release date (bringing with it a newly redesigned iPhone) has been put off and would be replaced by an iPhone 4S release date (a minor update to the existing iPhone 4).

However, if Verizon wireless is truly discounting iPhone 4 accessories, then you'd have to believe they're making room for new iPhone accessories that would accomadate a new iPhone design.  Otherwise, similar to the iPhone 3 to iPhone 3GS upgrade, the existing iPhone 4 accessories would fit the rumored iPhone 4S and, as a result, Verizon's existing iPhone 4 accessories wouldn't need to be blown out to make room for the next gen iPhone accessories.

Next Generation iPhone Release Date Timing

Whatever surprises are in store for us when the next generation iPhone launches, most iPhone rumors are still pointing towards an early September next generation iPhone release date in the U.S. while a next generation iPhone release date would occur a month later Internationally.

Stay tuned for more iPhone rumors as they will be surely making the rounds, sooner rather than later, as the next gen iPhone release date nears.  This far along in the process, it's nearly impossible to keep the iPhone leaks from coming.

If an iPhone release date is looming, Apple has already alterted their vendors to important deadlines and vendors are most certainly actively involved (and have been actively involved) in getting the next generation iPhone and next gen iPhone accessories to market.