Mobile and Connected Device Strategies

Fans of Apple’s mobile devices turned out in droves this weekend to get their hands on the new iPhone 5 following its official release on Friday. The company announced that 5 million of the devices were sold, which exceeded first-weekend sales of the iPhone 4S by a million units.

CNET reported that the strong sales numbers are key for Apple in regaining its dominant stance in the mobile market. With the dual release of the iPhone 5 and the iOS 6 operating system, Apple is looking to fend off advances by the competition that includes Samsung’s Android-based devices and the upcoming release of the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems from Microsoft. Apple said that 100 million devices have already upgraded to iOS 6. It’s believed Apple will enjoy success with the iPhone 5 throughout the fourth quarter.

Yankee Group Research VP Carl Howe comments

“Consumer demand is still far outstripping supply for the iPhone 5. What’s not obvious to many is that Apple had to spread its limited supply of iPhones among nine different countries last weekend. That figure will go up to 31 countries on Friday, Sept. 28. I don’t think Apple will have any problem selling 10 million units by Sept. 30, but if it does, it will be because Apple couldn’t build that many phones that fast, not due to lack of demand.”