Crowds gathered outside the Apple Store in Covent Garden today (November 3) to be the first to get their hands on the latest iPhone X.
Apple fans were treated to a sunny pleasant, albeit cold Autumn day in London. Some people had set up tents outside of the store since 4pm on Halloween (October 31) claimed an Apple sales assistant.
Doors opened at 9:40 as supposed to the 10am regular start, members of the public started to roar “we want an iPhone” in the build up.
Numbers were noticeably larger than the iPhone 8 and last year’s iPhone 7 launches. Although, hundreds queued for the 6s and thousands did for the 6 in 2014.
When the doors finally opened at 9:40am staff members cheered on the crowd as the first customers were allowed to enter the store. A few Apple employees told Mobile News they sold so many handsets that they would need to wait for the next available shipment.
Mobile News spoke to some of those in the queue for their thoughts on the tenth anniversary iPhone.
Alexandra, 28, from Brazil (below) said that he came to England to learn English language, instead he found out about this launch and saw it as a great opportunity to get his hands on the new iPhone X.
He said: “I think facial recognition is a game changer for Apple and the industry as a whole, I am sure others will follow Apple as they always do. I am sure they will lead the industry with their new and exciting features, improved battery, bigger screen and so much more. Great!”
James, 28 from St Albans (bottom right) was similarly excited about the device.
He said that it was exactly what he was expecting the device to be like it has everything he ever wanted all packed in one device.
“I have this Samsung S8 in my hand and it doesn’t work. I was very disappointed with Samsung, but Apple made my day better, iPhone X is amazing. I love the screen and the fact that its a smaller form factor-size. Bigger screen smaller handset, brilliant.”
Sally, 34 from London (left) said: “I get an iPhone every year regardless of any problems that it may have, I stay clear of the reviews I trust Apple. I am very happy that its finally here and it is also a very secured device, which puts my mind at ease.”
‘Biggest quarter ever’
Applr posted strong quarter sales, enough for the vendor to forecast 2018 Q1 revenue to be between $84 billion and $87 billion.
Coinciding with the launch Apple released its fiscal Q4 results, with sales increasing by 12 per cent to $52.6bn (£40bn) for the three months ending September.
Shares in the manufacturer rose two per cent putting it on course to be the first trillion dollar company. Apple is currently value at nearly $900bn (£690bn).
It sold more than 46.6 million phones in Q4 up three per cent year-on-year. Smartphones produced $28.8bn, more than half of revenue in Q4 this year.
The services division which emcompasses the App Store, Apple Pay and Apple Music made $8.5bn, up 34 per cent year-on-year, due to a one-time adjustment.
Costs increased, Apple said profits were $10.7bn in the quarter, increasing 18 per cent.
Apple CEO Tim Cook (above) said: “We’re happy to report a very strong finish to a great fiscal 2017, with record fourth quarter revenue, year-over-year growth for all our product categories, and our best quarter ever for services”.
Dixons Carphone head of channel sales Paul Lavin added: “While many speculated that the iPhone X’s £999 retail price would alienate margin conscious business customers, we’re pleased to report a surge in demand for Apple’s latest model.
“With the phone available for business customers to purchase today, we expect a second wave of demand in the coming weeks and months, as early users report back on the phone’s business usability, processing speeds and value.
“We expect the iPhone X’s release to further fuel this competition, as business customers reap the rewards of the tech giants going head-to-head in bid for an increased share of the market,” he added.
