Preorders for New iPhone Hit 4 Million in 1 Day

Apple today said preorders of its new iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, the 6 Plus, totaled a record 4 million in the first 24 hours, which doubled the preorders that the iPhone 5 received two years ago. But those numbers may suggest a rosier outlook than they actually portend.

Since Apple didn't release similar figures for last year's release of the iPhone 5s, which was for the most part an incremental upgrade over its then year-old predecessor as well as the lower-end 5c, it suggests customers are sitting on a number of aging iPhones. That includes earlier models which are now reaching the point of sluggishness due to upgrades to iOS running on slower processors and the fact they can only run on 3G networks.

Perhaps boosting demand was the fact that Apple for the first time offered an attractive promotion -- it will offer a $200 trade-in for an older iPhone if it's in working condition. For now, that offer is only good through this Friday but it wouldn't be surprising if Apple extended it or reintroduced it through the holiday season.

Also while I visited a local Verizon owned and operated store on Saturday, I noticed a few customers interested in switching out their larger Android phones for the new 6 Plus. But most of those orders Apple reported must have come from online because the vast majority were there looking at Android-based phones. Those wanting a new iPhone, especially the larger one, will have to wait at least a month or more, although Apple always seems to like to play those supply shortages early on when releasing new devices.

Many customers these days are less loyal to any one phone platform and are willing to switch if one has hardware specs that meet their needs -- perhaps its size, the camera or even the design. For example, I observed one woman who wanted to replace her damaged iPhone with iPhone 6 Plus but when the rep told her she'd have to wait a few weeks, she said she'd just take an Android phone since she needed a new one right away. I saw another man warning his son that if he switched to an Android phone, he'd lose all his iOS apps. The teenager was unphased by that and also bought an Android Phone.

Meanwhile, no one was looking at the Nokia Lumia 928s or Icons and the store employees told me that they sell few Windows Phones, which they estimated accounted for less than 5 percent of phone sales. Perhaps that will change, following Microsoft's deal to acquire Mojang, purveyor of the popular Minecraft game? That's a discussion for my post about today's announcement by Microsoft to acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion.

For those who did purchase a new iPhone, it appears there was more demand for the larger unit with the 5.5-inch display compared with its junior counterpart, which measures 4.7-inches (still larger than the earlier 5/5s models). Apple didn't provide a breakdown. If you're an iPhone user, do you plan to upgrade to a newer one or switch to another platform? What size do you find most appealing?

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 09/15/2014 at 12:08 PM