Apple IPhone 5 Misses Estimates Even as 5 Million Units Are Sold

It was reported Apple Inc. (AAPL) that debut weekend sales for the iPhone 5 that fell short of some analysts’ estimates after supply constraints delayed shipments.

More than 5 actor iPhone 5s were awash in the aboriginal three days, before a almanac set endure year by the antecedent model, Cupertino, California-based Apple said today in a statement. Apple said appeal for the new handset connected to beat the antecedent supply, an affair the aggregation cited endure anniversary as the could cause of accumulation delays for some aboriginal online orders.

Shares slipped amidst affair that accumulation shortfalls may impede the aggregation from harnessing the iPhone 5 to outdistance rivals including Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) that accomplish handsets application Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android adaptable software. The iPhone, amenable for about two-thirds of profit, is acute to fueling the advance (AAPL) that adapted Apple from a alcove computer maker into the world’s a lot of admired company.

“The amount is lower than what humans had expected,” Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, said in an interview. He had estimated admission weekend sales of 6 actor to 6.5 actor units, excluding Internet purchases that haven’t been shipped. “This seems to be apprenticed added by availability than demand.”

The shares fell 1.3 percent to $690.79 at the close in New York. The stock has gained 71 percent this year.
Estimates Missed

The shortfall between iPhones actually sold and the tally predicted by analysts may not be vast, since Apple doesn’t report orders that were received over the Internet until they are delivered, Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, wrote in a note to clients today. Apple’s figure includes sales from wireless carriers, retail outlets, Apple stores and online orders that customers have received, he said.

“Units in transit could be in the millions currently,” Marshall said. He had anticipated sales of 6 million to 8 million units, based on his understanding of which orders Apple would count as sales.

Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the company’s statement and referred to regulatory filings for the revenue-recognition policy. Apple counts online sales to individuals once the product is received, filings show.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. (PJC), had predicted Apple would sell 6 million to 10 million of the iPhone 5. That assumed Apple would count all orders, including undelivered online purchases, in the sales reported today, Munster wrote in a research report.
‘Irresponsible Estimates’

Early orders in Apple’s online store topped 2 million units in one day, Apple said on Sept. 17. The company said in the statement today that “while the majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are scheduled to be shipped in October.”

Component shortages, including parts needed for the iPhone’s new screen technology, caused the backlog, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., wrote in a research report today. Apple could have sold as many as 2 million more handsets without those constraints, he said.

Given the supply challenges, many estimates were too high, Wu said. He had projected sales of 4 million to 5 million handsets, based on an assumption that orders would count once they shipped from the factory.

“We acquisition it adverse that some analysts abide to broadcast capricious estimates after demography into annual astute appeal trends and abeyant accumulation constraints,” Wu said. “This is a archetypal case of near-term expectations accepting out of blow with reality.”

‘Working Hard’

Apple is “working harder to get an iPhone 5 into the easily of every chump who wants one as bound as possible,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in the statement. “While we accept awash out of our antecedent supply, food abide to accept iPhone 5 shipments consistently and barter can abide to adjustment online and accept an estimated supply date.”

Sales from the weekend will be included in Apple’s banking after-effects for the budgetary fourth quarter, which ends Sept. 30. The aggregation is accepted to address accumulation of $8.35 billion on sales of $36.1 billion, according to the boilerplate of analysts’ estimates aggregate (AAPL) by Bloomberg.

“The story now with Apple is less about the gorgeous technology and more about if it can really execute the global supply,” James Kelleher, an analyst at Argus Research, said in an interview. “Can they get them to as many people as they want in the right amount of time?”