Apple begins new iPhones’ sale (photo)

Apple Inc. began sales of its latest iPhones, hoping for strong demand to allay concerns about the company’s position in the smartphone market, The Wall Street Journal reported.


IPhone sales started on Friday morning local time in Australia, kicking off a launch planned to roll through 10 other territories, including Japan, the UK, the U.S. and China. Analysts expect Apple to sell at least as many iPhones over its launch weekend as it did last year, particularly because it is offering the devices to the Chinese market as part of the initial round of launches for the first time.


The company said it would be selling iPhones in 100 countries and more than 270 mobile carriers by the end of the year.





The launch is the latest test of Apple’s product strategy, which is under attack on both the high and low ends. Apple unveiled two new iPhone models last week, but didn’t stray far from its traditional form factors and pricing. The lineup going on sale Friday includes the new flagship iPhone 5S, which includes a faster processor, better camera and a new fingerprint scanner. It also includes a second model called the iPhone 5C, that repackaged much of the technology from last year’s model in a new colorful plastic case.





Some analysts and investors were hoping Apple would introduce more variety into the pricing of its phones. In the US, Apple priced the 5S at $199 with a two-year contract, or $649 without; the 5C costs $99 and $549 respectively. Since the announcements, Apple’s stock price has gone down nearly 7% to from the announcement last week through Thursday’s close.


The concern, among some, is that the lineup will do little to help the company further compete against phones running Google Inc.’s Android operating system, which became the world’s most widely used software in 2011, according to research firm Gartner. The software powered nearly 77% of the smartphones sold during the first half of this year.




Apple’s chief rival is Samsung Electronics Co., which sold 71.3 million smartphones in the second quarter, more than twice Apple’s 31.9 million handsets sold over the same period, Gartner said.


The South Korean technology giant has increasingly set its sights on the American market, holding lavish launch events and ramping up advertising. At the same time, Samsung and other competitors have taken share from Apple in countries like China, where Samsung smartphones can be purchased for under $100.


Apple executives have said they intend to focus on the high end of the market. “There’s so many people that care and want a great experience from their phone or their tablet, that Apple can have a really good business,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek magazine published on Thursday.
 

Hundreds of customers lined up outside Apple’s retail shop in Sydney for the chance to get the first new handsets, suggesting demand for new iPhones remains robust.


“There are a lot of new features like the fingerprint security, the new camera and the battery processor as well,” said Michael Yang, a 20-year-old economics student. He waited in line for 16 hours to purchase an iPhone 5S.
Enthusiasm for the cheaper iPhone C, however, wasn’t so apparent.


“I think the 5C is still pretty highly priced considering it’s supposedly the low-budget version,” said Aaron Taylor, a 29-year-old IT consultant who lives in Sydney. “The 5C is basically the iPhone 5 with plastic around it.”