RUSH: I just checked the email during the break and I got this note: “Dear Mr. Limbaugh: I want to buy an iPhone X. But I’m reading that they can’t make nearly enough to satisfy demand on opening weekend. And then I was shocked when I saw that there’s going to be some available in stores on opening day and Apple is suggesting people get there early. How can any of this be?” That is such a brilliant question, and I can give you the answer. I will give you the answer in due course. But I imagine the Stick to the Issues Crowd is upset that I’ve even mentioned this during the show.
Okay. Here it is very briefly ’cause I got some Trump sound bites to get to. The iPhone X, the story is — the sum total of the story is — that supply will be nowhere near demand, that there may only be two to three million iPhone Xs available on launch day, November 3rd. They’re having all kinds of trouble manufacturing key elements of the facial ID package. Apple has not denied this. There are numerous reports that the production is way delayed and is being very slowed down by the inability of manufacturers of the parts to produce enough of them at scale.
Remember, Apple needs 200 million of everything that goes in a new iPhone. So if they’re only gonna have two to three million on launch day… Remember, they normally sell 13 to 15 million in a typical opening weekend, and they’re only gonna have two to three million, and they’re gonna open in 55 countries. How in the world can they have any in the stores? It’s a great question, and here’s the answer: The tech media has been writing for years that people are over Apple, that no longer does anything Apple do excite people.
“People don’t even show up anymore on launch day for phones. It’s just not that big a deal!” The tech media hates Apple like the Drive-Bys hate Republicans. So Apple has the iPhone 8 and the 8 Plus. They also announced those the same day as the iPhone X. Naturally, a lot of people are waiting for the iPhone X, so the sales activity in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus is not as brisk as if they were the only phones available.
So Apple, all of a sudden (after the last two years telling people, “Don’t show up to the stores. Order online. It’ll be much faster”), is now encouraging people to show up. It’s a brilliant marketing move. What’s gonna happen? There are gonna be throngs of people lined up outside every Apple store in the world, and the media is gonna be there with their cameras to see it, and you can’t avoid the conclusion, “Look at how many millions of people can’t wait to get an iPhone! My God, the media doesn’t know what they’re talking about. People can’t wait! They’re excited as hell.”
They’ll be camped out for a week in advance. But then, when they run out of iPhone Xs in the store –which will take about five minutes — what does Apple do? “Let me show you the iPhone 8,” will say the genius, “or the 8 Plus. Why, it’s just as good as the X. It has everything the X in it except the facial ID. It’s got the same great camera. It’s got the same chip. It’s got the same wireless charge. It is a perfect phone.
“Buy this while you wait for your X.” It’s to upsell the 8 and to create the illusion — not the illusion, to demonstrate that people are still excited as hell about Apple. That’s why. That’s my humble opinion. Take it or leave it, but that’s what I think is going on. Now, the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone 8 are awesome phones, by the way — and the best battery life of any iPhone I have ever had, and it’s not even close.