What Selling Out Pre-Order Inventory Really Means

by Christopher Paul on September 14, 2012

While I'm an Apple fan and I did get up at 3 AM to order an iPhone 5 for my wife and I (who are "struggling" with just an iPhone 4), I wanted to say something about the time it took to sell out pre-order inventory.

People have said the iPhone 4S sold out in 22 hours last year – which, if I recall, was faster than the iPhone 4. This year, reports are indicate the iPhone 5 sold out in an hour which makes people think it will be tremendously popular and much more so than previous generations.

And while I believe that could be true, time to sell out (as I'm calling it though it sounds shady) is not an indicator of success at all. If anything, it could underscore poor yield rates, incorrect forecasts, or the shifting of production to more and different markets at once.

When you read the hype about Apple selling out their inventory, don't rush to any conclusions – especially those that use it to prop up Apple fanboys. It's too complex a problem to draw those kind of conclusions.

Selling out pre-order inventory means nothing.

Previous post:

Next post: