The current shortage of iPhone 5’s has caused great problems for Apple with regard to its investors and its customers as a whole. Gene Munster, the research analyst and managing director at Piper Jaffray, has attempted to purchase an iPhone 5 by logging on to the official Apple website at least an hour after Apple allows customers to reserve the devices, which are to be picked up the following day at Apple stores.
However, the attempt was not fruitful as he and even some of his co-workers, were unable to purchase the phone using that method.
Somehow, Gene Munster and his co-workers were able to reserve some iPhone 5’s to be picked up the next day, but they had to ensure that they logged on at exactly 10p.m. They tried to reserve some more phones later however they were unable to do so.
Mr. Munster stated that the trial was meant to confirm whether the more causal consumer was able to reserve the phone and his efforts proved otherwise. He was also quoted asking when it would be possible for a customer to simply walk in to an Apple store and purchase the phone since the shortage seems to be escalating whilst no solution is forthcoming.
Although in most cases, a high demand corresponding to a low supply is not necessarily a bad thing, but in Apple’s case it has led to a decline in its stock price. The company’s stock price had reached the $700 per share mark in September, decreased by 10% over the past few weeks. As at Tuesday, Apple’s stock price closed at a dismal $635.85. In addition, the company’s online stores have shown that shipping of the new iPhone 5 has been delayed by about 3-4 weeks, which is a very bad sign indeed.
The shortage of iPhone 5’s has generally eclipsed the sales lift that Apple would have otherwise gained from the release of the iPad Mini. The smaller and more affordable iPad is set to be released in the near future though the investors are still primarily focused on the supply problems with the iPhone 5.
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