Apple Inc quashed any concern of muted demand for its iPhone X on Friday, saying pre-orders for the 10th anniversary phone were \u201coff the charts\u201d.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s shares, which have fallen steadily since it announced in early September it would launch two iPhones within two months, rose nearly 3 percent in response.<\/p>\n
Pre-orders for the much-anticipated 10th anniversary phone started from 12.01 am PT (0701 GMT) on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can see from the initial response, customer demand is off the charts,\u201d an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working hard to get this revolutionary new product into the hands of every customer who wants one, as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s website showed delivery times pushed out to five to six weeks for the phone, compared to an initial plan of Nov. 3.<\/p>\n
IPhone X\u2019s launch follows weeks of concerns among analysts about the production of the new phone, which for the first time includes new facial identification software to replace the fingerprint used on previous phones.<\/p>\n
Analysts have cautioned that production of the phone was below target, due to difficulties in producing the TrueDepth camera system, which houses sophisticated cameras and sensors making it possible to unlock the phone using Face ID.<\/p>\n
Wireless carriers in the United States and Canada have reported slow third-quarter customer upgrades. While some expect a pickup after the iPhone X goes on sale in November, others cautioned that phone\u2019s $999 price tag could weigh on demand.<\/p>\n
Major promotions on the iPhone X from U.S. carriers have yet to materialize, and in some cases, the offers have been even less generous than what was available for the iPhone 8, said Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG in a research note on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He noted that Sprint Corp\u2019s iPhone X promotion of $350 in savings for trading in an eligible device was the most aggressive but still lower than what it offered for last year\u2019s launch of the iPhone 7.<\/p>\n
Shares of Apple were up 2.9 percent at $161.96 in morning trading in New York.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Apple Inc quashed any concern of muted demand for its iPhone X on Friday, saying pre-orders for the 10th anniversary phone were \u201coff the charts\u201d. The company\u2019s shares, which have fallen steadily since it announced in early September it would launch two iPhones within two months, rose nearly 3 percent in response. Pre-orders for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":365751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[224,1712],"yoast_head":"\n