People began lining up outside Apple Stores in San Francisco’s Union Square and in Palo Alto as early as Wednesday to get the new deluxe iPhone ahead of its Friday release in stores, accordin…
SAN FRANCISCO — As the iPhone X goes on sale Friday morning, the familiar sight of Apple fans lining up outside Apple Stores for their new iPhones appears to be making a comeback.
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Apple sells out iPhone X pre-orders, wait time balloons to 5 to 6 weeks The prospects of strong demand for the new iPhone X and iPhone 8 seemed to wipe away memories of a previous iPhone sales slump. As recently as this May, Apple reported a decline in year-to-year iPhone sales, triggering questions about whether Apple was losing its mojo.
But thanks to a bevy of new features from Face ID to a bezel-less front screen, the iPhone X, which starts at $999, is generating enthusiasm not seen since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 2014.
With high expectations for iPhone X sales, Apple said Thursday its expects revenue of between $84 and $87 billion in the holiday quarter from October through December, the highest revenue in the company’s history.
“As we approach our holiday season, we expect it to be our biggest quarter ever,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook during a conference call Thursday with analysts.
As Cook discussed Apple’s better-than-expected quarterly earnings on the call, the iPhone X officially went on sale in Australia. Hundreds of people waited in line outside the Apple Store in Sydney.
Photos shared on social media indicate there will also be queues Friday at Bay Area Apple Stores.
Die-hard Apple fans began lining up in front of Apple Stores in San Francisco’s Union Square and in Palo Alto as early as Wednesday, according to the social media posts.
In a blog post last week, Apple encouraged prospective buyers to get in line early.
Last Friday, iPhone X online pre-orders sold out in 15 minutes, and Apple soon estimated a five- to six-week waiting time for pre-orders to be delivered. Part of the backlog was due to limited supplies of the iPhone X due to manufacturing issues.
One Japanese media outlet reported Apple had 20 million iPhone X units for 2017, half of what it originally expected.
The iPhone X is the most revamped model of Apple’s signature smartphone in years. It comes with end-to-end screen display with an OLED screen, which allows more resolution and contrast in its colors. The iPhone X can be charged wirelessly, and has new cameras in both rear and front. The front cameras are part of a “TrueDepth” suite of sensors and cameras, which allow the iPhone X to unlock by facial recognition.
