Apple's 'disappointing' iPhone 5 sells out within the hour

Given the amount of negative press that has been generated since the announcement of the iPhone 5, calling it everything from boring to disappointing and even naming it the Apple Meh!phone, you might be forgiven for thinking nobody would want to buy it. You would be wrong. Very wrong indeed, in fact, if the pre-ordering process is anything to go by. It took the iPhone 4 and 4S around 20 hours to sell out after pre-orders went live on the Apple website. Yet the iPhone 5 'sold out' of launch day stock within the hour.

Both Apple.com and a number of wireless carrier sites reported problems due to the sheer amount of traffic after pre-orders went live, something that I don't recall happening when the iPhone 4S was made available. So has much of the media got it wrong, and Apple got it right again? Is this pre-order activity a taster of what's to come, and will the iPhone 5 actually outsell the 4 and 4S?

I'm an 'i' user myself, with both and iPad 2 and iPhone 4S in daily use, and can understand some of the negative press that the iPhone 5 received. File it under 'shame that Apple isn't innovating more' I guess. Not that I am knocking Apple for the iPhone 5 which, to be fair, does have some interesting new features such as the bigger screen, the thinner aluminium and crystal glass look, the 4G support, the new maps etc. But there was no Siri-like wow factor innovation on display here, it was certainly more evolution than revolution for the iPhone 5 - and that's no bad thing, unless you are thinking about upgrading your handset.

There is nothing compelling enough, feature wise, to make someone like me who has had an iPhone through all the iterations and is currently using an iPhone 4S upgrade to the iPhone 5. Indeed, the Samsung Galaxy SIII and Nokia Lumia 920 would have more of a 'hardware/software wow' factor when upgrading my handset were it not for the sheer investment I have made (both in terms of money and use) in Apple apps. Then there's the investment in cases, in accessories, that the new longer thinner iPhone 5 with the smaller lightning point connector impacts upon. Sure, I appreciate that the case thing is always an issue, and that an adaptor will be available for the connector, but I like the case I have already and I have had bad experiences with adaptors that don't adapt quite enough to make everything work as you expect, especially in terms of aesthetics!

The truth of the matter is that Apple has hit that point where the iPhone has got about as good as it will get, unless Apple proves me wrong and produces something out of leftfield for the iPhone 6 that is. My iPhone 4S does everything I need, and does it very well indeed; there is absolutely no reason for me to upgrade to a 5. However, as those pre-order statistics show, that doesn't mean that the iPhone 5 is a failure, far from it. Anyone with an iPhone 3/3G will be hard-pressed not to be impressed with the 5. Anyone thinking about entering the iPhone market will not be put off by the changes (or lack of them) that the 5 brings. Will the iPhone 5 outsell the 4 and 4S? That really wouldn't surprise me one bit and here's why: at the end of the day, all those commentators asking 'where was the killer feature?' when the iPhone 5 was unveiled, and claiming it to have failed, are missing the point which is so obvious to all fan boys and non-haters out there: the iPhone is the killer feature, simple as...

[hacknet]

iPhone 5 sold out? How many phones were actually available during the proposed pre order? It's a marketing trick to show that they sold 5-10 million during the pre order. But that was not the case. They probably sold out the first million. Samsung Galaxy S3 will double its sales since people saw how much the iPhone Sucks!

[1234543212345]

we've got a mad fanboy over here

[Ricardo0711]

What a BS article you publish here.

[happygeek]

1. There is no reason to assume that Apple is trying to manipulate the media by making it harder for customers to get the iPhone 5 on the day of release by vastly reducing the numbers available for immediate pre-order. To do so would be pretty poor marketing and get filed in the shooting own foot cabinet surely.

2. The new iPhone sucks? Really? I've addressed the evolution/revolution debate here, but just being a 'hater' and saying the iPhone sucks adds nothing to the intelligent discussion, now does it.

3. As for being a 'mad fanboy' that's quite a stretch when I have stated that I have no intention to upgrade from my 4S to the 5, and that both the Galaxy SIII and Lumia 920 would be up there on my upgrade radar were it not for my investment in iPhone apps. That's more a case of practical realist than obsessive fanboy.

4. The BS comment, have to say I am finding myself hard-pressed to come up with a response worthy of standing in the same company as such a thoughtful and finely crafted piece of intellectual repartee.

[ChrisHunter]

I have a 3Gs which I got off my sister to replace my broken toco lite and I've never been too interested in the latest phones because I'd rather go the pub and talk to a humans face but I do understand the capabilities of iPhones. However I have plenty of friends that have had the majority of iPhone models and watched from an "I'm not too fussed about any of latest phones" point of view and from here it seems as though the iPhone range does the majority of its sales due to how well Apple's marketing department sell the phone (the phrase "they could sell manor to a farmer" comes to mind). Not to discredit Apple, the iPhone is an amazing range of phones and i do like my 3Gs.

However like myself a massive percent of users will never have any use for a lot of the things the iPhone has to offer. In my personal opinion the iPhone seems to be like these "fixie" bikes, overly big glasses (sometimes plain glass or not glass in them) and geek sheek clothing that trendy London students ware (which was orignally ironicly fassionable as first but that seems to have been lost).

My point: iPhone is an amazing piece of ecuiptment but I think it's more the brand and the fact that people have spent so much on peripherals and apps, than the technology now. As HappyGeek said other handsets are available and just as good (if not better) they just done have and apple on them

[heobaby83]

I thinks samsung Galaxy S3 will double its sales since iPhone Sucks!

[ChrisHunter]

iPhone 5 is more sturdy and has a bigger following. Galaxy is too big, too flimsy, doesn't have as much hype surrounding it, doesn't bring anything new to the table really and as HappyGeek said, people have already invested too much money in apple merchandise to switch.

Sneeky advertisement though (not really)

[tompatrick]

Till date, iPhone5 have recived mixed reactions. Some like it while others complaint about it.

The truth of the matter is that Apple has hit that point where the iPhone has got about as good as it will get, unless Apple proves me wrong and produces something out of leftfield for the iPhone 6 that is. My iPhone 4S does everything I need, and does it very well indeed; there is absolutely no reason for me to upgrade to a 5. However, as those pre-order statistics show, that doesn't mean that the iPhone 5 is a failure, far from it. Anyone with an iPhone 3/3G will be hard-pressed not to be impressed with the 5. Anyone thinking about entering the iPhone market will not be put off by the changes (or lack of them) that the 5 brings. Will the iPhone 5 outsell the 4 and 4S? That really wouldn't surprise me one bit and here's why: at the end of the day, all those commentators asking 'where was the killer feature?' when the iPhone 5 was unveiled, and claiming it to have failed, are missing the point which is so obvious to all fan boys and non-haters out there: the iPhone is the killer feature, simple as...

I got the Apple store few times a week and play around with the iPhone 5 and other things.

I like it. I feel iPhone 5 hasn't fail yet but I don't feel iPhones won't be going anywhere for a while.

[glenn.verdult.77]

I decided to wait and keep my 4s... just as good.

Glenn Verdult

[greitas]

when iphone 5s will show up?

[TSRmiyata]

I am sure that iphone 5s/6 will beat this sales, I bet a lot of people will buy an idea of built-in fingerprint scanner, and probably more new features unlike the iphone 5. Personally I don't see it as a big deal, my laptop has fingerprint scanner, nothing fancy. I wonder how it wasn't built-in into other phones earlier, and patented. I have iphone 4s, and really don't plan moving to the new iphone, it 4s offers all what I need. I tried s3 and s4, and nothing special too.

[joo003464]

Its been nice to go through your post.
It has given me much knowledge & so many valuable information.

I'm feeling very nice to be here. so enjoyable...!

[creamtown]

I think the only downside of iPhone 5 is its build quality. Many iPhone 5 users are complaining of how easy this phone gets scratched especially when they put it inside their pocket. I believe this is the reason why Apple stops the production of this model because it's really hard to produce this phone. So they decided to replace it with iPhone 5C, simple because it's much easier to produce.