How Many iPhones And iPads Did Apple Sell Last Quarter?

Apple's expected to reveal iPhone and iPad sales figures for the past quarter this Tuesday at their quarterly earnings call. If you remember, Apple posted record iPhone sales of 37 million units for the quarter ending December, thanks to the momentum created by the launch of iPhone 4S in October.

The iPhone 4S has continued to expand its availability in the US, as well as other important markets like China and Apple's on track to introduce the new iPad to 9 new countries this Friday in addition to the 12 countries in which received the last week. Although these new countries won't contribute as much to the numbers Apple reports in the earnings call (the figures are from January to March), it shows that Apple is pushing its manufacturing line to churn out iPads and iPhones as fast as possible in order to meet demand.

Fortune's Philip Elmer-Dewitt spoke to various analysts and compiled estimates from all of them for both, the iPhone and the iPad

Would Apple surpass the record figure of 37 million iPhones sold? 13 out of the 48 analysts seem to think so. Most of the estimates are in the 30 to 40 million bracket. For the same quarter last year, the sales stood at 18.6 million units.

The iPad estimates for the same period range from 9 million to 15.5 million, as compared to last quarter's figure of 15.43 million iPad sales. If you're wondering why is the estimate low considering that the new iPad comes with a number of upgrades, remember that the device went on sale on the 16th of March, meaning that it only got a sales window of two weeks in the 3 month period.

Apple's quarterly earnings call is scheduled for the 24th of this month, and we'll be bringing to you all the key announcements from there, right here. Stay tuned.

For all the estimates, head over to this link for the iPhone and this for the iPad.

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Has AT&T Unlocked Your Off-Contract iPhone Yet? [Updated]

It's April 8th, and according to AT&T's statement issued a couple of days back, the carrier plans to unlock users with off-contract AT&T iPhones starting today.

AT&T lists the following requirements in order for you to be eligible for an unlock:

• Your account must be in good standing.
• You should have completed the 24 months contract period, or paid an early termination fee, or upgraded under one of AT&T's upgrade policies.

According to some readers that have commented on the announcement post, the awareness about this policy change isn't high enough among AT&T's customer service reps, so expect a few clueless responses from the other end of the line when you call AT&T for an unlock.

A few comments from readers:

lynda writes: I called AT&T this morning, just after they opened the customer support lines. First customer service rep said that absolutely no-way could they unlock an iPhone, then cut me off. Second customer service rep said the same, but then did a little more research and acknowledged that they now can unlock iPhones that satisfy the requirements. However, despite the rep being able to see that my phone qualifies, they do not have access to unlock codes.

Happy writes: Called AT&T earlier today told them I have three iPhones and that I do not have an AT&T account with them and asked if I would be able to get them unlocked on the 8th and she said as long as they were free of contracts and charges they would be unlocked free of charge:}:}:}:} About time.

One reader whose unlock request did get accepted by AT&T writes in the comments section:

I just called ATT a while ago and requested to unlock my iPhone 4S which I paid the full retail price for. The guy I spoke to asked for my name, email, phone and IMEI. Put the request in and gave me a request confirmation. He confirms I will get details of how to unlock my iPhone a week from the day I called which is today. So fingers crossed.

You can note your device's IMEI number by navigating to Settings -> General -> About, or by connecting your iPhone to iTunes and checking it from there. (You have to click on the Phone number field twice to see the IMEI number.) Alternatively, you could get this number from the SIM tray.

After AT&T processes your request, which seems to be a week from the time they accept your unlock request, you'd be given instructions to complete your unlock.

You can call AT&T on 1-800-CALL-ATT (1-800-225-5288) or contact them via the online chat feature here and hope that the customer service rep on the phone has been briefed about AT&T's policy change on iPhone unlocks.

Update 1:

A forum member on iMore claims he has managed to get his AT&T iPhone unlocked:

Today, 4/8/12, I called AT&T to unlock my contract free 3GS. Took 30 minutes on T’s end to get the unlock code, and only 5 minutes to perform a backup and restore via iTunes. Interestingly enough, the phone number shows as NA in the iTunes screen. Same IMEI and ICCID if you click on the same spot.

Update 2:

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

While most readers who are eligible for the unlock are being told to wait for a week to get their unlock instructions, some readers have managed to get their iPhone unlocked. We're not sure what's the criteria.

Since it has been less than 24-months since the launch of iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the only way you will be able to get your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S unlocked would be if you pay the early termination fee.

Update 3:

Please note that you can also request for the unlock using the online chat feature on AT&T's website. Use this link to use the chat feature.

Update 4:

Ideally, you should not be required to restore your iPhone, connecting your iPhone to iTunes once your IMEI has been added to the whitelist should be sufficient (Check out Update 8 for more details). So restore your iPhone only if connecting to iTunes after you get a confirmation from AT&T does not work.

Update 5:

If you've purchased a used AT&T iPhone, then it looks like AT&T is looking at the original owner's history and checking if he or she has completed the terms of his contract, to verify if the used iPhone is eligible for the unlock. Hat tip to chpwn!

Update 6:

According to chpwn, the maximum number of iPhones that AT&T will unlock per account is apparently 5.

Update 7:

If you're eligible for the unlock, then you should receive the following email from AT&T, which provides the instructions to complete the unlock (via MacRumors). As we've mentioned earlier, you should not be required to restore your iPhone, connecting your iPhone to iTunes once your IMEI has been added to the whitelist should be sufficient (Check out Update 8 for more details). So restore your iPhone only if connecting to iTunes does not work after you get the confirmation email from AT&T.

Update 8:

Check out our step-by-step guide on how to unlock your off-contract AT&T iPhone without losing the jailbreak.

Update 9:

Users without an off-contract AT&T iPhone can check out this method to unlock iPhone using SAM.

Don't forget to let us know what response you get from AT&T in the comments below.

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Will Apple Be Forced to Launch Cheaper iPhone In Markets Without Carrier Subsidies?

The Wall Street Journal has published an interesting article which details the iPhone's weak performance in countries where carriers don't subsidize the sales of handsets.

Although Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones last quarter, most of these sales were in markets like the U.S. and U.K., where carriers offer a subsidy on the device.

In European countries like Greece and Portugal, which are in the middle of an economic crisis, an unsubsidized $680 iPhone 4 (yes, the older iPhone 4) is a distant purchase for most. Not surprisingly, the iPhone accounted for less than a tenth of the smartphones sold in these countries. Even the "free" iPhone 3GS sells for a steep $535 in Greece, sans contract of course.

This is where cheaper Android based smartphones swoop-in, and increase Google's smartphone market share:

Android phones that cost less than $200 without a contract are widely available in Europe, helping Google undercut the much more expensive iPhone. In Portugal, at wireless carrier Vodafone Group PLC, the cheapest Apple phone—an eight-gigabyte version of the older-model iPhone 4—sells for $680, according to the carrier's website. Phones running Android can be had for as little as $106, and even Samsung Electronics Co.'s high-end Galaxy S II is cheaper than the cheapest iPhone.

In fact, even Nokia is targeting the low-cost smartphone market, with an entry level Lumia phone that would sell for $250.

The report also quotes Spanish carrier Telefonica's CEO, who says that they're having second thoughts about the carrier subsidy model:

"We can't keep subsidies at these levels. When you buy a TV or any other consumer good, you pay for it. It is healthier that users pay for their devices and operators invest in networks and services."

Apple's strategy to sell phones has been designed with the post paid, contract based model in mind, which is why the iPhone doesn't hold much market share in pre paid markets.

The company definitely needs to rethink their strategy for unsibsidised markets, unless it wants to do a repeat of the disastrous pricing seen when the iPhone 4S launched in India. (The cheapest iPhone 4S sells for $900 in India through carriers.)

And although subsidies won't go anywhere in markets like the U.S. anytime soon, SAI's Henry Blodget raises a valid point:

Of greater potential concern for Apple is what could be a trend toward carriers reducing or eliminating subsidies.

[...]

Apple's profit margins on the iPhone are nothing short of remarkable, especially relative to the profit margins of its competitors.

One reason the company is able to sustain those margins, however, is the carrier subsidy model, which makes consumers much less sensitive to handset price.

If the subsidy model begins to break down, Apple could be forced to cut prices, thus eating into its margins.

Eventually Apple will have to venture into these markets, unless it wants the iPhone's growth to stagnate, which means either new iPhones would have to be introduced at cheaper price points, or existing ones would have their profit margins reduced.

Apple seems to tackling this issue one market at a time right now, with China being on the top of the list.

[via WSJ]

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Apple Makes it Mandatory For iPhone App Developers to Submit Retina Display Screenshots

Apple has notified developers of iOS Developer program to only upload images for Retina Display for their iPhone and iPod touch apps while submitting them to the App Store.

Prior to this, developers could upload images for Retina Display, but it was not a mandatory requirement.

Apple has issued the following notification:

Required iPhone & iPod touch Screenshot Upgrade for Retina Display

When you create or update your apps in iTunes Connect, you must upload screenshots that are high-resolution. We require your screenshots as high-resolution images so that your app is optimized for the Retina display.

The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels. Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.

Developers need to meet this new requirement even when they submit an update for their existing apps. While this could well be a house-keeping exercise to ensure that the images in the App Store look good on iOS devices like iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S with Retina display, it has also led to speculation that iPhone 3GS may not be around much longer.

We don't agree. While we expect Apple to phase out iPhone 3GS when it launches the next generation iPhone, we don't think Apple will stop supporting iPhone 3GS so soon. Also screenshots are used in the App Store and has no bearing on the support for a particular device.

What do you think?

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Apple Closes The Gap Between iOS And Android With iPhone 4S Launch

A new report by NPD covering smartphone sales in the U.S. in October and November 2011 has found that the iPhone 4S has helped Apple close the gap between iOS and Android.

The report by NPD which analyzed sales from the end of 2011 found that while iPhone sales dropped towards Q3 of 2011, sales shot up during October and November. The original drop from 29% to 26% market share was largely due to the fact that the iPhone 4S was not released in June as previous models were, but was pushed back. Through October and November, Apple's market share (based on sales) went up from 26% to a whopping 43%.

Meanwhile, Android's market share fell from 60% down to 47%. However, since this jump was due to the release of iPhone 4S, it's likely that the market share will drop once again. It will be interesting to see if Apple has managed to keep it this way or even take the lead in December 2011.

Another noteworthy point in the report was the list of the top 10 smartphone models:

 As you can see, Apple is in the top 3 spots: the iPhone 4S is predictably first, followed by the $99 iPhone 4, and the iPhone 3GS. This last model is available for free with a 2-year contract on AT&T, which may be the reason that despite being in its third year of sales, it's more popular than the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and the Galaxy S II. And, even though Android seems to be slipping from the top position, TechCrunch notes that RIM and Microsoft have market shares so low that they aren't even really in the race.

[source TechCrunch]

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Apple’s iPhone Was Unveiled Five Years Ago, Today

"This is a day, I've been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything."

That was Steve Jobs' build-up to his Macworld keynote, where he would go on to introduce the iPhone.

The most iconic part of the keynote, at least according to us, was his prelude to the phone Apple was going to reveal:

"Today we're introducing three revolutionary products. The first one, is a wide screen iPod with touch controls. The second, is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third, is a breakthrough internet communications device."

"An iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone .... Are you getting it?"

"These are not three separate devices. This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone."

Jobs continued, talking about how flawed, and difficult to use, smartphones were back then. The slide from his keynote that described this, went on to become a representation of the pre "modern smartphone" era, where phones came with small screens and hardware keyboards.

Since then, the iPhone has, no hyperbole intended, revolutionized the way modern mobile devices look and function.

The iPhone introductory keynote is considered not just Jobs' best performance, but also, one of the best product launches ever. You could literally see people in the audience stand up and pump their fists.

Of course, with Steve's great presentation skills, Apple also had an amazing product. So amazing, in fact, that RIM, in a meeting a day after the launch, thought that Apple was lying and that it wasn't possible to run such a device without an "insanely power hungry processor."

Palm had interesting things to say as well:

"We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in."

This was Palm's then CEO Ed Colligan, talking to the NYT in 2006, before the iPhone was unveiled, and when the hype about the Apple-phone was at its peak. (Fascinating commentary on this by John Gruber over at Daring Fireball.)

So what is the scenario five years after the launch of the iPhone?

RIM is in trouble. Palm, on the verge of bankruptcy, sold to HP, which subsequently dumped Palm's main product WebOS in the open-source territory. Microsoft, once a leader in the smartphone space, had to start from scratch with Windows Phone. Nokia abandoned its in-house Symbian OS in favor of Windows Phone.

The leaders in the smartphone space right now, Google and Apple, weren't even in this business five years ago.

Clearly a lot has changed.

Interesting tidbit: During the keynote, when Steve Jobs made the first public phone call with an iPhone to Jonny Ive, he was using the Motorola Razr (as was Phil Schiller).

And with that we'll leave you to watch the introduction of Apple's iPhone on this day, 5 years back:

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