\nBy Alex Webb, Mark Gurman and Adam Satariano<\/strong>
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The frayed scrap of paper taped to the sidewalk outside Apple Inc<\/a>.'s flagship store in San Francisco's Union Square had a simple message: $5 for photographs.
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The sight of Apple<\/a> fans clamoring to get the latest phone was replaced Friday by people looking to make a few bucks from their lead spot in the line. For the first time, being first through Apple store doors around the world is no guarantee of securing the top-of-the-line new iPhone<\/a>. A combination of limited supply and Apple's push toward online pre-orders meant walk-in customers were unable to buy the larger 7 Plus version.
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\nThe result: smaller, less-enthusiastic lines. That's a big change from the retail frenzy that has long been a ritual of the company's marketing for a product that still accounts for at least 57 percent of revenue.
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\n\"My iPhone 5 died two days ago, the screen became detached,\" said David Nelson, a 51-year-old attorney from Oakland, California, who waited toward the back of a line of several hundred people outside the San Francisco store Friday morning. \"If my phone had survived, I wouldn't be here.\"
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It was subdued outside the London Apple shop in Covent Garden. A well-organized line of a few hundred people cycled through, mainly consisting of people with receipts to pick up pre-ordered devices<\/a>.
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The line outside Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York was the smallest since the launch of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. His research team counted 400 customers lining up there Friday, down from a peak of 1,880 for the iPhone 6 debut in September 2014. Apple said earlier this week that all models of the 5.5-inch screen iPhone 7 Plus<\/a> were sold out in advance, as were all other new handsets with the glossy jet black finish.
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\n\"Consumers continue to trend toward pre-ordering new devices to specifically avoid long launch day lines,\" Munster wrote in a Friday note to investors. \"Pre-orders and early inventory issues will continue to impact future launch day lines, thus would not be surprised to continue seeing smaller lines across the world on future launch days.\"
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\nThis year, Apple extended its iPhone Upgrade program, in which customers pay a monthly fee in return for a new handset every year. This may help Apple stabilize iPhone sales in years without new blockbuster models, but it also reduces the need for people to gather for hours outside stores on launch day. After being introduced in the U.S. a year ago, iPhone Upgrade was rolled out to the U.K. and China this year.
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\nSeveral Apple retail employees in Europe said their stores had no stock for customers walking in without a pre-order reservation, despite Apple's statement that there would be iPhone 7s available in all colors besides jet black. At European stores where stock for walk-ins was available, quantities were scarce and customers seeking a particular color and capacity configuration ended up with a model they didn't want or left empty-handed, the employees said. Some big Apple stores in California received fewer than 100 units for walk-in customers, other employees said. They didn't want to be identified sharing descriptions of early sales. Apple won't disclose initial weekend sales numbers for the new models, breaking with the tradition of past years.
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\nFar Cry<\/strong>
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\nThe lack of sizable crowds this year is a far cry from previous product launches. The first iPhone in 2007 introduced the world to customers camping outside stores to buy a new technology product. Greg Packer, a former government maintenance worker, started the line at Apple's Fifth Avenue store five days before the original iPhone became available, while a group of organic farmers sat in line for more than a week before the iPhone 3G's launch in 2008.
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\nLines at some malls were so long that security guards made crowds wait at nearby locations and escorted customers in small groups to the store to buy their phones. Apple employees provided waiting customers with bottled water, coffee and donuts.
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\nThe large crowds were not only made up of shoppers. Some people paid others to line up for them and re-selling new iPhones purchased early from stores became a thriving side business.
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\nPiper Jaffray's Munster said this year's line outside the Fifth Avenue store had \"little to no representation from overseas re-sellers.\" Last year, these entrepreneurs accounted for about 20 percent of the line, he noted.
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Still, smaller lines do not necessarily mean fewer sales, because online pre-ordering has picked up, the analyst said. \"We remain comfortable with our thinking for slight growth in the iPhone 7<\/a> cycle compared to the iPhone 6 cycle,\" he wrote.
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\nBack in San Francisco on Friday, some customers were still waiting to get phones for other people. Matic Skok, a 23-year-old from Slovenia, was buying an iPhone 7 for his uncle back home.
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\n\"My uncle is addicted to his iPhone,\" Skok said, adding that he didn't plan to buy a new handset for himself. \"I have a 5S but it's too expensive for me to get a new one.\"\n\n<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":54374973,"title":"Reliance Jio\u2019s Chief Cloud Architect Soren L. Hansen quits","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/-reliance-jios-chief-cloud-architect-soren-l-hansen-quits\/54374973","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"msid":54376455,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Apple store queue dying as iPhone fans shift to online ordering","synopsis":"A combination of limited supply and Apple's push toward online pre-orders meant walk-in customers are unable to buy the larger 7 Plus version.","titleseo":"telecomnews\/apple-store-queue-dying-as-iphone-fans-shift-to-online-ordering","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[],"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"Bloomberg","artdate":"2016-09-17 14:50:16","lastupd":"2016-09-17 14:50:16","breadcrumbTags":["iPhone","Apple","Apple Inc","Online shopping","e-retail","Devices","iPhone 7","iPhone 7 Plus"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/apple-store-queue-dying-as-iphone-fans-shift-to-online-ordering"}}" data-authors="[" "]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2016-09-17" data-index="article_1">
亚历克斯·韦伯,马克Gurman和亚当Satariano
磨损的小纸片贴在外面的人行道上苹果(aapl . o:行情)的旗舰店在旧金山联合广场有一个简单的信息:5美元的照片。
的景象苹果粉丝争相获取最新的手机被人取代了周五想赚几块钱的铅现货。第一次,第一次通过世界各地的苹果专卖店的门并不能保证获得顶级新iPhone。供应有限和苹果的推动在线预订意味着步行客户无法购买更大的7 +版本。
结果:小,那么热心。从零售狂热,这就是一个巨大的变化,长期以来一直是仪式的公司营销的产品仍占至少57%的收入。
“我的iPhone 5两天前去世,屏幕上变得独立,”David Nelson说,51岁的律师从奥克兰,加利福尼亚,向后面排队的几百人在旧金山店周五上午。“如果我的电话后,我就不会在这里了。”
这是征服了伦敦考文特花园的苹果店外。一个组织良好的几百人骑,主要包括收入的人接订单设备。
这条线在纽约第五大道苹果店外最小的自2009年推出iPhone 3 gs,根据Piper Jaffray的分析师Gene Munster。他的研究小组统计400客户排队星期五,低于1880年的峰值为iPhone 6 2014年9月首次亮相。苹果本周早些时候说,所有模型的5.5英寸的屏幕iPhone 7 +提前已经卖完了,其他都是新的手机光泽乌黑的完成。
“消费者继续开始预订新设备的趋势特别避免长发射天行,”明斯特在周五给投资者的报告中写道。“预购和早期的库存问题将继续影响未来发射当天线,因此不会感到惊讶,继续在未来推出的日子里看到世界各地的小行。”
今年,苹果延长了iPhone升级计划,客户每月支付费用,以换取一个新的手机。这可能有助于苹果iPhone销量稳定在年没有新的大片模式,但也减少了需要人们收集外面几个小时商店推出的一天。在美国一年前被引入之后,iPhone推出升级到今年英国和中国。
在欧洲几个苹果零售员工说他们的商店没有股票为客户走在没有预订的预订,尽管苹果的声明会有iPhone 7 s可用在所有颜色除了乌黑。在欧洲商店股票取得的胜利是可用的,数量稀少和客户寻找一个特定的颜色和容量配置了一个模型他们不想空手而归,员工说。一些大苹果商店在加州步行顾客收到少于100台,其他员工说。他们不想被识别共享描述早期的销售。苹果不愿透露初始周末新车型的销售数字,打破了多年来的传统。
大不相同
缺乏大规模人群今年前产品发布相去甚远。第一个iPhone在2007年向世界介绍客户露营外面商店购买新技术产品。格雷格•帕克前政府维护工人,开始的第五大道苹果店前五天原iPhone成为可用的,而一群有机农场的坐了一个多星期之前,自2008年推出iPhone 3 g。
在一些商场这么长时间,保安人员在附近的地点和人群等陪同客户小组到商店去买手机。苹果员工为等待的顾客提供瓶装水、咖啡和甜甜圈。
大量人群不仅由购物者。有些人支付别人为他们排队,倒票新iphone从商店购买早期成为繁荣的副业。
Piper Jaffray的明斯特表示,今年的第五大道店外排队等候的“没有从海外re-sellers表示。”Last year, these entrepreneurs accounted for about 20 percent of the line, he noted.
不过,小行并不一定意味着更少的销售,因为网上开始预订了,分析师表示。“我们仍乐于思考轻微的增长iPhone 7周期相比,iPhone 6周期,”他写道。
周五回到旧金山,有些客户还等着别人的手机。23岁的来自斯洛文尼亚,电气自动方式. Skok购买iPhone 7他叔叔回家。
:“我叔叔是沉迷于他的iPhone . Skok说,他补充说,他不打算为自己买一个新的手机。“我有一个5 s,但这对我来说太贵了。”
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