Apple Does Ordering Right (external link) ∞

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone, went up for pre-order today. Within minutes of pre-orders opening, however, estimated delivery dates started slipping all the way to next year.

I know there are a lot of people upset that they weren’t able to secure a launch day iPhone Duo. It seems like a combination of years of pent-up demand for something “all-new” from Apple in the iPhone space and the rumored production issues leading up to launch.

I will say that even though orders have now slipped to late January, I still prefer the way Apple does preorders to most every other tech company. When Nintendo sells out of the Switch 2, for example, they show “Sold Out” text on their website and you can no longer place an order. At some random date in the future, more units will be made available on their website (usually with no notice) and hopefully you happen to be online when it happens and can snatch one up before they sell out again, and they go back to being unavailable.

While I used Nintendo as the example here, most every tech company does the same for high-demand items (See Nvidia and graphic cards for an even more extreme example.)

I like that products are never sold out on Apple’s website. While us early adopters care an inordinate amount about getting new technology on launch day, most people are happy to put their order in and wait to get it on their estimated ship date. Even if they aren’t happy about the length of time they have to wait, I still think it is preferable to monitoring the Apple website for days or weeks to find the magical window of time when they can place an order for an in-stock unit. Apple usually does a great job of forecasting and (at least for me) I have always received my product on (or before) the estimated ship date.

I am sure that it is a little embarrassing for some at Apple to have a ship date over three months out on the website. Would it have been preferable to slap up a “sold out” label on the iPhone Duo after five minutes and stop taking orders? Because that’s what most companies do, at the cost of a cohesive and consistent customer experience.

Most people will order their iPhone Duo, enjoy trick or treating with their kids, Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws, eat a delicious Christmas goose, ring in 2027 with some champagne, and break their New Year’s resolution… all before receiving the iPhone Duo they ordered today.

And that’s actually a good thing.