Apple iPhone X Lives Up to the Hype With Pre-Order Demand ‘Off the Charts’
If there was any doubt the iPhone X would be popular, it’s been put to rest.
Apple on Friday started offering iPhone X pre-orders and within minutes, the company was forced to push back shipments to late November and then, December. Apple responded to the news by saying that iPhone X demand is “off the charts,” though the company stopped short of saying whether supply will remain tight through the rest of the year, as several market analysts have suggested.
Needless to say, the past week was dominated by talk of the iPhone X. But there were also some discussions on iPhone 8 sales, and once again, Apple has found itself embroiled in a lawsuit with Samsung.
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Read on to learn more about all of this week’s Apple news:
This is Fortune's latest weekly roundup of the biggest Apple news. Here’s last week’s roundup.
- Apple AAPL ended the week in a big way by selling out of its initial stock of iPhone X units just minutes after it started offering pre-orders on Friday morning. As of this writing, Apple is promising December ship dates on all new iPhone X pre-orders.
- Soon after pre-orders started, some of those who nabbed early units with promises of a November 3 ship date put the promised units on sale on eBay for as much as $60,000. The sellers promised to ship the iPhone X to whomever placed the highest eBay ebay bid once the smartphone landed at their doors. Other sellers are hoping to get between $5,000 and $20,000 for a release-day iPhone X. But whether anyone will pay remains to be seen.
- While Apple hasn’t said how much iPhone X supply it’ll have, GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives said this week that he expects total units available to ship worldwide will top 20 million units through the end of the year. The problem, he said, is that iPhone X pre-orders could reach 40 million units before the smartphone’s release on November 3. Ives doesn’t believe Apple will be able to address iPhone X supply problems until April or May of next year.
- Not so fond of the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus Apple released last month? They’re worth $500 and $630, respectively, on the trade-in market, according to Decluttr, a company that buys and sells refurbished hardware. Once the iPhone X is released, however, Decluttr expects those trade-in values to fall by as much as 30%.
- Apple this week acquired New Zealand-based wireless battery company PowerbyProxi for an undisclosed sum. Apple didn’t say what it might have planned for the company, but market analysts suggest the company’s battery technology could be used to wirelessly charge everything from its iPad tablets to Macs at some point in the future.
- A U.S. judge this week ordered a new trial over a patent dispute between Apple and Samsung. The case will center on how much the Korean tech giant should pay Apple for allegedly copying its iPhone’s design.
- Tech news site The Verge recently surveyed more than 1,500 people to see which technology company had products and services they enjoyed using most. Apple landed behind Amazon, Google, Facebook, and even Microsoft, according to the report.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook said this week that he’s working to “prepare as many people” as possible to take his place as the company’s top executive. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Cook said that he won’t pick his replacement, and will instead look to Apple’s board to make the decision.
One more thing…If you didn’t get a chance to pre-order the iPhone X but still want it on Friday, you’ll need to wait in line. Here’s a survival guide from Fortune on how to make your time on the line much easier.
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