Eager fans wait for the iPhone 5 at Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Ave. in Manhattan.
Apple said it sold 5 million iPhones over the weekend, topping the mark set by last year’s iPhone4S by 1 million units.
The Apple frenzy continued its memorable run with lines snaking out of some of its most high-profile stores on Friday as consumers eagerly snapped up the company’s latest smart phone. The figure, however, isn’t quite as high as some analysts expected, with one notably calling 6 million his “worst-case scenario” for first-weekend sales.
Still, the iPhone 5 reestablishes Apple’s dominance in the smartphone business. While Samsung Electronics may lead the market in total smartphones sold, no other company can garner the kind of excitement and anticipation for a new product, and few companies can reap the sheer amount of profit that Apple can with the iPhone.
The success comes despite criticism that the iPhone 5 isn’t a ground-breaking upgrade from the previous version, and that its key features – a bigger display and a 4G wireless connection — are elements that should have been included in the iPhone 4S.
More embarrassing is Apple’s own maps application, which contains a number of errors, distorted images, and a lack of detailsin different locations that have many wishing the company hadn’t booted Google Maps off ofiOS 6.
Still, the phone garnered strong reviews and the lack of a major change in its aesthetics or the map flap haven’t hurt demand. Apple said that more than 100 million devices have upgraded to iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile operating system.
Wall Street had higher expectations, with estimates as high as 10 million units sold over the first weekend. The company could sell as many as 50 million units in the fourth quarter, according to J.P. Morgan.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the long-term demand for the iPhone continues with the competition stepping up its game. Samsung has already gone after Apple with a few advertisements taking shots at the iPhone 5, while Microsoft is readying the launch of its Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 campaign.
On Thursday, the Apple will release the iPhone 5 in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
iPhone 5 sales top 5M units over first weekend, Apple says
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