The iPhone 5’s recent release was one of the company’s most successful and lucrative launches ever. Apple sold over 5 million iPhone 5s in the opening weekend alone, outselling the iPhone 4 by one million units.
Some analysts had predicted the phone would sell anywhere from 6-10 million units, and they are all ‘boo-hoo’ over their perceived ‘failure’ of their biggest iPhone launch ever. We think analysts, Apple and its shareholders should be the last ones to whine or complain over ‘lack-luster performance.’
The consumer is the real sucker in this Apple doesn’t fall far from the suckage-tree relationship.
The biggest issue those who prematurely-purchased an iPhone 5 have is the phone’s extreme sensitivity to scratches. Disgruntled consumers note that their new smartphones receive significant scratches on the body by merely setting it on top of a counter, or on their laptop, or by taking it out of the box. This is an apparent side-effect of having a phone made ENTIRELY OF GLASS. All snarky ‘those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’ commentary aside, glass is perhaps the stupidest material to use when aiming to make a durable every-day device.
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While the superficial annoyance of scratches is well, err, annoying, it is nothing compared to the price of having to actually repair these damages. Yes, Apple’s biggest downfall with the iPhone 5 is their delay in fixing damaged iPhones which currently has a three month turn-around timeframe. Users not wanting to wait so long for repairs are forced to pay a $200 premium to expedite the services.
$200 may not seem like a huge chunk of change for the wealthy, but when tacked onto the iPhone 5's $800 plus asking price, such a service truly seems like an arm and a leg.
All in all, be careful of consumer hype. For those of you looking to purchase an iPhone 5 I would wait until January when prices are sure to plummet after holiday consumerism maxes out sales. Also, Apple should have proper repair infrastructure in place then, or they are sure to lose their more money-conscious clientele.
