iPhone 5 Release Date Rumors Confuse Consumers: 4S Now, Or 5 Later?

Posted by Michael Nace on Tuesday Feb 14, 2012 Under iPhone 4S Opinion, iPhone 5 Opinion

Thanks to continued rumors of a June iPhone 5 release date,consumers are once again stuck on whether to buy an iPhone 4S now or risk waiting for the iPhone 5 once again.

In case you didn’t hear, Apple shares just recently leap over $500 a share, thanks mostly to the boisterous sales of the iPhone 4S, which continue to remain brisk since its release in the late fall of 2011. After a very brief sales lull is 4S sales after Christmas, Apple’s newest iPhone iteration is back atop the sales charts again for what looks to be yet another amazing quarter.

Just to give you a sense of how the iPhone has propelled Apple’s success, consider what App Advice has to say: “Just eight years ago, in early 2004, the stock was trading for around $12. After that low, it’s been almost all positive for the company. And in just the last five years, Apple shares are up a mind-boggling 500 percent. Compare that to the general NASDAQ index, which is only up around 20 percent over the same time period.” Considering that the iPhone debuted in 2007, Apple’s landmark smartphone has played a major role, no doubt.

And yet, in spite of brisk sales and huge earnings, prospective iPhone users are now at a crossroads: with the iPhone 5 release date rumored to be closer than originally expected, many are rethinking purchasing the iPhone 4S and betting on the June-released iPhone 5 instead.


You may recall that this conundrum occupied the confused, beleaguered minds of iPhone users last year as well, with nearly all passionate legacy iPhone 3 and 3GS users questioning whether they should wait for the iPhone 5, or go ahead and upgrade to the iPhone 4. This subset of iPhone users are perhaps the most disgruntled of all, since they found themselves waiting, waiting, waiting for the iPhone 5 release date, which at first was supposed to be at the 2011 WWDC in June, then in August, then in early September. When it finally arrived in early October, it wasn’t even the iPhone 5, but rather the refreshed iPhone 4S. And many iPhone 3 and 3GS bought it, in an attempt to inadequately satisfy their desire for a new iPhone.

Now, with the iPhone 5 release date rumored for June, those people (are you one of them?) wish that they had at least invested in the cheaper iPhone 4, or otherwise waited just a bit longer. And legacy iPhone 4 users now find themselves in the same position in 2012: their iPhone is old, they’ve been hearing about the iPhone 5 since August of 2010, and now the rumor mill is boldly proclaiming a June release date, should they hold off on the iPhone 4S and just wait a little bit longer?

Apple is clearly concerned with this prospect, as they have obviously been keeping an eye on the rumor mill and are realizing that it could shift sales away from the iPhone 4S in the months leading up to June’s WWDC. As a result, a new round of iPhone 4S advertisements have hit the airwaves, perhaps in response to the concern that 4S sales could go limp without reaffirming that it is currently the flagship iPhone device. News Sizzle comments: “some analysts are now suggesting that a newly launched ad-campaign for the iPhone 4S marks the final push by Apple to help clear remaining inventory, ahead of an official iPhone 5 release date to be announced in the early summer months.”

These new commercials could indeed compel consumers to purchase the iPhone 4S. Though with the prospect of a larger screen, new form factor, A6 chip, improved Siri, a new iOS, and a host of other rumored upgrades, it will get increasingly difficult for Apple to keep the iPhone 4S sales steady as June approaches.

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4 Responses to “iPhone 5 Release Date Rumors Confuse Consumers: 4S Now, Or 5 Later?”

  1. Dragonj Says:
    February 14th, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    I was a sucker that upgraded to the 4S, but not an unhappy one. Of course I’ll want the 5, but that’s how it goes. Siri is fun, often like a drunk friend, you never know how she’s going to respond, so when she isn’t productive at least I get a laugh. I still think the once a year decision to upgrade in the Apple-sphere is better than the constant onslaught of options and vendors in the android market – I can see buying an android phone and a month later something hotter is out, if I hate my new phone I feel screwed and if I love my new phone I still might feel screwed cause I no longer have the latest or that 1 new feature, and this would happen every month!
    I do hope there is an incentive for 4S owners to upgrade to the 5; that would be kind and not unprecedented, especially since it really seems as the 4S was not the product anyone expected.
    I love the new camera, I love ios5 mainly because ios4 was a drag, I love Siri (my tipsy pal), and I love the speed of the 4S. And I love how my iPhone and iPad compliment each other. Absolutely want the 5 though, so please Apple, throw us an incentive!
    @Michael – where are the smileys?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 2


  2. undfeatable Says:
    February 14th, 2012 at 6:16 pm

    :)

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  3. El Es Says:
    February 15th, 2012 at 4:40 am

    Now or later indeed.

    This uncertainty is enough to drive me to purchase a new iPod Touch. My iPT 1G is too long in the tooth to be truly useful anymore as anything other than a music player. The new iPT has enough iOS5 functionality to prove enticing. Spotty Wi-Fi is the downside to this stop-gap solution.

    As an anglophone living in Spain, Siri just doesn’t have enough in-country functionality yet to prove useful (it’s great at weather, but can’t find a restaurant if you were standing in front of it), so I can’t justify ponying up the funds for a 4S when the 5 is, well, “… just around the corner”.

    As a long-time Apple consumer and stockholder, I find this lack of transparency frustrating now that “The Steve” is gone. Maybe Tim Cook will listen to appeals for more transparency in product releases. And maybe pigs will fly.

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  4. Melissa Kalinowski Says:
    May 3rd, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    Thanks-a-mundo for the blog. Want more.

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