iPhones hard to find? You'll have to play the waiting game
LOS ANGELES — Apple sold a record 10 million new iPhones over launch weekend, 1 million more than the previous record of 9 million iPhones last year.
Now what?
How do you get your hands on the iconic device? You'll have to wait for Apple to catch up to the record demand. And that could take some time, at least a month.
Spot checks of Apple stores nationally showed extremely limited availability of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and virtually none of the larger 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus.
Apple says shipping time for the iPhone 6 is 7 to 10 business days, and 3 to 4 weeks for the 6 Plus.
The demand for the new iPhones was much greater than Apple expected, says Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. Indeed, he believes Apple could have easily sold another 5 million iPhones over the weekend, had they been in stock.
Is Apple playing a PR game of sellouts to fuel demand for its products? Analysts don't believe it. "We believe they are at full production," says Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group.
"No one has ever shipped 10 million of anything physical in three days," says Doherty. "Let alone a premium cutting edge product."
If you have to get the iPhone now, running from an Apple Store to big box retailers like Best Buy and Target, or individual carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon stores won't make them magically appear, says Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies.
"If you want one now, you should order it online and wait for delivery," he says. "That's pretty much your only option."
If waiting is not an option, there's always online auction markets at eBay and elsewhere, where prices can prove greatly inflated if you're not careful.
Munster believes retail stores won't be fully stocked with iPhones for 3-4 weeks.
Munster projects that Apple will catch up to demand, and eventually sell as many as 65 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models by the end of the year, a huge jump over the 43 million iPhone 5s and 5c models it sold from September launch through the end of 2013.
Why has there been such a huge response to the new iPhones?
"It's the bigger screen," says Bajarin. "The pent-up demand for the larger screen has been so strong."
Apple rival Samsung first popularized larger screen phones with its Galaxy line. Its current flagship Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch screen.
Indeed, overall the Android operating system dominates in market share. But in the U.S., the iPhone is the No. 1 device, with 41.9% market share, compared to 27.8% for runner-up Samsung and its Galaxy line, comScore data show.
"It's ironic," says Bajarin. "Samsung blazed the trail for larger screens, but Apple came in and mopped up the profit."
Finally, if waiting is not an option, there's always online auction markets at eBay and elsewhere, where prices can prove greatly inflated if you're not careful.
CHART: APPLE SELLS MORE IPHONES EACH YEAR
From launch date through end of the year
2014: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. 65 million (projection)
2013: iPhone 5s and 5c. 43 million
2012: iPhone 5. 40 million
2011: iPhone 4s. 30 million
2010: iPhone 4. 15 million
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