New iPhone could see record debut after sales begin in China
Kerim Muhammet poses with his two new Apple iPhone 5S models after waiting in line overnight in Glendale, California, on September 20, 2013. Apple launched two new models of the iPhone today, the iPhone 5S, which is an updated version of the iPhone 5, and a less expensive iPhone 5C.
The popular new iPhone 5c and 5s models could be headed for record sales after they were released internationally on Friday, although inventory may be unable to keep up with demand.
Wall Street will be watching the new release with great interest, as Apple stocks have recently slumped from a high of $700 at last year's iPhone 5 release, to a low of $472.30 on Thursday, according to USA Today.
Read more from GlobalPost: Charging your iPhone? Now there's a hat for that
A record 5 million iPhones were sold during last year's iPhone 5 debut, but Apple has spent a year without the release of a new model, while Samsung continues to push new devices at ever-speedier rates.
Inventory could be key to a new record for Apple. “It really depends entirely on how good or bad the yields on the 5s are,” said analyst Carl Howe to Bloomberg. “Apple may not even hit the 5 million I predicted last year if the 5s is in really short supply,” he said.
Fervor for the Apple devices doesn't appear to have dimmed, and the popular gold model of the new iPhone 5s is already sold out until October after buyers furiously snapped up the devices. New stocks of the silver and gray models of the 5s will be shipped to store within a week, notes CNN, while there appears to be plenty of stock of the less-expensive 5c available.
The gold model has proved particularly popular in status-conscious China, where the new device went on sale for the first time right after release. Chinese consumers previously had to wait for months prior to the initial release of an Apple product, writes the Wall Street Journal.
The iPhone release made less-than-chipper headlines in California after it was revealed that a group of homeless people had been recruited to stand in line for the new devices at the behest of a local entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, the businessman who had come up with the scheme declined to pay many of them or transport them back to their original locations, reports the Los Angeles Times.