Apple Inc fans
queued around city blocks worldwide on Friday to get their hands on the new
iPhone 5, pointing to a strong holiday season for the consumer device maker
despite grumblings about the mapping app in the new smartphone.
The iPhone 5 —
thinner, lighter and with a 4-inch screen — went on sale in stores across
Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, with mobile carriers
reporting record demand that looked likely to stretch Apple’s supply capacity.
“The line for the
iPhone 5 was 70 per cent greater than the line for the iPhone 4S despite Apple
taking two (times) as many online pre-orders,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene
Munster. He expects Apple to sell 8 million of the new smartphones over the
weekend.
The long lines of
excited buyers prompted optimism on Wall Street. Deutsche Bank raised its
target on Apple stock to $850 from $775, saying “demand indicators are tracking
very strongly.”
The iPhone is
Apple’s highest-margin product and accounts for half of the company’s annual
revenue. Apple shares were up 0.5 per cent to $702 in afternoon trading in New York.
JPMorgan estimates
the phone could provide a $3.2 billion boost to the U.S.
economy in the fourth quarter — a boost almost equal to the whole economy of Fiji.
Apple’s rival and
component supplier, Samsung Electronics Co, tried to spoil the party, saying it
plans to add the iPhone 5 to its existing patent lawsuits against Apple. Read more...
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