We now have definitive proof that a business world built on the quarterly earnings report is destined for self-destruction: Apple’s stock fell almost $9 because its partner AT&T “only” managed to activate 146,000 iPhones in its first day and a half on sale. Not that the activation figure directly reflects the number of iPhones sold.
Yes, I’m serious, and I’m totally bewildered. Analysts and investors are pretending that the second quarter, which closed June 30, would be the one that reflects the impact of the iPhone. Which is nice, except that the iPhone went on sale at 6 p.m. on June 29, and AT&T had serious network issues that prevented people from activating their phones until well into the next week. Which means that anyone who couldn’t or chose not to activate their iPhone until after midnight on June 30 got left out of this report.
Which is obviously a clear sign that it’s time to sell all of your shares in AAPL. Obviously. You know how, in movies, we’ve gotten to the point where people talk about the highest opening 5.5-day gross ever by a film released on a Tuesday in a month with a full moon that falls on a Saturday? This is the opposite. This is the smallest 1.5-day activation ever for an incredibly successful product. They chopped off Sunday, for heaven’s sake!
But this is the world that exists. It’s all about the quarterlies. And maybe that means that Apple did AT&T a disservice by not launching a week sooner. It shouldn’t have any impact on the long-term health of either firm. But it’s idiotic. Especially since AT&T experienced — wait for it — 61 percent total revenue growth!
Grrrr. Anyway, don’t read too much into these numbers. Apple will release its sales numbers soon, which are a clearer indication of how well the iPhone did in its first day and a half. Not that a day and a half of sales matters. It’s stupid. Can we talk about this in October?
Image via TechDigest
14 responses to ““Disappointing” iPhone Results Are Misleading”
Let’s hope they put this percentage into their “Edge” network and make it a “Sharper Edge.”
…also? I’m still with Verizon, can I please be photographed with someone’s iPhone?
To put this number in some perspective:
Through all their activation troubles AT&T still activated about 1.3 iPhones per SECOND for 30 hours straight.
Johan
Stupid investors–people can be so thick sometimes; grrrr.
So many people want this product, and Apple, to fail. It is a bummer that Apple’s stock fell much more than AT&T’s did, despite the fact that the reason for the drop fell squarely on AT&T not being able to handle the demand for the product.
Tony is right…..the amount of people hoping this will fail is becoming a joke. The knee-jerk reaction the the activation figures is a clear demo. I’m keen to see Apple’s actual figures for sales. That should make interesting reading. Buy some Apple shares while they are temporarily suppressed today. They should shoot up to pre-AT&T activation news levels.
Thank you for putting this in context of our short attention span society!
activation sales
Well obviously sales will be down! I don’t know anyone in there right mind would buy an iPhone in the last few months when they know a new iPhone, that will be the same price as the current, it just a few months away!