iPhone 4S Sets Sales Record for Apple
Although the iPhone 4S launch was a disappointment to some Apple fans -- because it wasn't the iPhone 5 -- that doesn't seem to be hurting sales. On Monday, the company announced that its first day of pre-orders exceeded 1 million and smashed the record set by the previous model, the iPhone 4.
The pre-orders started on Friday, and the device goes on sale at stores this Friday. The 4S adds a third U.S. carrier partner, Sprint Nextel, to the existing two carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Previous Record: 600,000
The iPhone 4's previous record was 600,000 orders in one day. Philip Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a statement that "first day pre-orders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product Apple has ever launched."
The new device offers iOS 5, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, with more than 200 new features. One of the most talked-out additions is iCloud, which allows users to automatically and wirelessly store their content on Apple's servers, and retrieve it on other devices.
The 4S features an A5 dual-core processor that doubles the speed over the predecessor model, a battery life of up to eight hours for voice, a high-resolution retina display, and an eight-megapixel camera that permits 73 percent more light, 30 percent sharper images, better color accuracy, 1080p HD video, and has a new image-stabilization feature.
It also features a voice-to-text software assistant called Siri for voice-activated commands. At the 4S launch last week, Apple executive Scott Forstall verbally asked the 4S to find a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto, and the app complied. Siri is available on the 4S but not yet on other iOS 5 devices.
'Not at All Surprised'
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said he was "not at all surprised" by the 4S record opening-day sales.
"People had been holding off buying a new smartphone until Apple's next release," he said, so the sales volume can be attributed, at least in part, to that pent-up demand.
In addition, Greengart said, "the iPhone 4, 16 months after its launch, is still selling well," and the 4S is the same model, but with more features and power. Finally, he said that adding Sprint as a carrier "certainly helps," especially since "the No. 1 reason why people have left Sprint" in recent times was to get the iPhone.
Apple and some industry observers have suggested that the voice agent Siri was a "breakthrough technology."
"It's not yet clear if Siri is making a difference in people's buying decisions." Greengart said. He added that, as someone who has followed artificial intelligence and related software for years, Siri "blew me away" from a technology perspective.
From the point of view of usefulness, he said, it's not yet clear if Siri is a home run.
