Apple’s new iPhones make global debut

Apple’s new iPhones make global debut

 

(Bloomberg and AFP)

 

Apple Inc attracted long lines of shoppers at its retail stores yesterday for the global debut of its latest iPhones, in the company’s biggest move this year to stoke new growth.

 

In Munich about 2,000 people lined up and at the Louvre in Paris about 300 people waited ahead of the 8am opening.

 

At Tokyo’s Apple Store Ginza there were about 800 people, including some dressed as Batman and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in a face mask, jeans and black turtleneck.

 

The iPhone 5S and 5C handsets also went on sale yesterday in Singapore, Germany, France, the UK and the US.

 

Opening-weekend sales are crucial to boosting Apple after nearly a year without releasing a new device and ceding market share to rivals in the US$280 billion smartphone market.

 

Whether the Cupertino, California-based company can surpass the record 5 million smartphones sold during last year’s iPhone debut depends largely on whether there is enough supply of the feature-rich iPhone 5S.

 

Carl Howe, an analyst at Yankee Group, who correctly predicted opening weekend sales last year, said Apple could top 7 million in sales if it has enough handsets.

 

Apple will sell as many as 6 million units even though it will not have enough iPhone 5S handsets available, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos.

 

New fingerprint-reading technology makes the gadget harder to manufacture, he said.

 

The iPhone 5S costs US$199 to US$399 depending on the amount of memory and with a two-year wireless contract.

 

Without a contract, the smartphone costs at least US$649.

 

The iPhone 5C costs US$99 to US$199 with a two-year contract, or US$549 without one.

 

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, published on Thursday, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said quality had always been the driving force.

 

“There’s always a large junk part of the market. We’re not in the junk business,” he said.

 

“We never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone. Our primary objective is to sell a great phone and provide a great experience, and we figured out a way to do it at a lower cost.”

 

(Taipei Times, 21 Saturday September 2013 The Roman)