When the iPhone five first came out there were lines in front of Apple stores all over the world. If you wanted one on the day they were released you needed to line up for hours and even then if you were close to the back of the line then you risked missing out. The lines weren’t as long on for the iPhone 5 as they were for the iPhone 4 but stores still ran out of stock fairly quickly and were even constantly running out months after the phone was released.
One problem to those who couldn’t buy an iPhone five in-store, it was also difficult to buy an iPhone five online. In many countries the iPhone five on the waiting list which meant that it could take days before you actually received your phone despite having paid for it on the Apple website. This is no longer the case shoppers realized that in the North American online Apple Store the iPhone five was now showing as available and in stock. This means that the sale of the phone has slowed down somewhat after the hype died down. It is good news to those doing Christmas shopping and wanting to buy the top-of-the-line gadget as a Christmas present. Shoppers however shouldn’t get too excited because it’s likely that Apple will again run out of stock during the Christmas season because the phone will become in very high demand as Christmas approaches along with the post-Christmas sales.
The iPhone 5 has been received warmly by Apple users but has failed to capture the imaginations of mobile users like previous iPhones did. Apple has been criticized for playing it safe and a lack of innovation compared to its previous models. Many are suggesting that the death of Steve jobs has severely hampered the company’s ability to innovate and leave the industry. Many saw the iPhones latest addition as simply a catch up model designed to bring Apple level again with android and Microsoft phones.
For example one of the new features of the iPhone was a wider screen however many of Apple’s competitors including Nokia and Samsung were already offering phones with wider screens.
Apple has also been criticized for not including features which its competitors are offering like the new tap and go file transferring system featured in many android models. The new operating system which the iPhone came preloaded with was also heavily criticized with buyers being disappointed to find that Youtube had been replaced with an Apple alternative and that Google maps have been replaced by Apple maps, a substandard and sometimes hilarious mapping application which uses found frustrating and annoying to use.
This coupled with Apple’s refusal to open up its operating system to third parties has caused many to question their loyalty to Apple with many now considering choosing other phones. Many are saying that the fact the iPhones are now in stock is actually a sign that Apple’s momentum is slowing despite sales figures still being strong and Apple stores still being full.
