U.S. wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile reported increase in preorders for the iPhone 7 smartphone in volume than previous Apple models.
Verizon executive vice president Marni Walden said the number of orders at Verizon, with a much larger base, is less dramatic.
On Tuesday, T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. said they’d received four times as many orders for the iPhone 7 as previous models.
“That wasn’t a surprise given that both of those companies are working from a smaller base of Apple iPhone customers,” Walden said.
T-Mobile said pre-orders for Apple’s latest have already shattered sales records in the first four days – up more than 4x over the smash-hit iPhone 6. Even before a blockbuster pre-order weekend, iPhone 7 also broke records for pre-registration at T-Mobile, making it the biggest pre-reg of all time, including pre-registrations for both iPhone 6s and the smash-hit iPhone 6.
Pre-orders of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at Sprint (NYSE: S) are up more than 375 percent in the first three days over last year. Since Sprint began accepting pre-orders on Sept. 9, new and existing customers have been placing orders for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at a rate nearly four times greater than this time last year.
AT&T Inc. is seeing iPhone 7 order volume that is above year-earlier levels, which is “better-than-expected,” Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said during an investor conference on Wednesday.
Verizon Executive Vice President Marni Walden told the same conference that Apple iPhone upgrade rates were more business as usual.
According to a Bloomberg report, investors are watching closely for signs of early enthusiasm for the iPhone 7 after two quarters of declining sales for Apple’s flagship device. Apple has said it won’t disclose weekend sales number for the first time. The new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be available in stores on Friday.
China to dump iPhone 7?
The news coming from the U.S. may be a good boost for Apple. North America is the top smartphone market for Apple. But market research agency IDC earlier indicated that iPhone 7 will not be a huge hit in China.
“With the minimal changes and a similar design to the previous two iPhone generations, we do not expect the shipment numbers for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to be as high as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus when these models were first launched in China,” said IDC.
IDC expects those who are already on iPhones to make up the majority who will purchase the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and we do not expect Android users to be attracted to purchase the latest iPhone. A greater demand will be seen for the iPhone that will be launched in 2017 in China.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
