Apple’s iPhone 5 launch has to be considered a great success, despite initial launch sales figures falling somewhat short of expectation. The Cupertino company’s ability to sell the device was naturally hindered by yield constraints, and with Foxconn struggling to churn out the numbers required by Apple, Tim Cook’s company had to place limitations on how many unlocked devices individual customers could grab at any one time.
A maximum of two unlocked iPhone 5s per customer was slapped on the sought-after device, a move which allowed more people to get a look-in. Not only could only two be purchased at any one time, but a lifetime limitation of ten units was also placed on every Apple account. Now though, Apple is on top of production, and as such, consumers can grab up to ten unlocked iPhone 5s at a time.
The lifetime limitation has been relaxed to 999, although I cannot think why anybody would want to buy so many units in one go. For the benefit of the number crunchers, that many devices would cost a grand total of $648,351, so if you have two-thirds of million bucks burning a hole in your pocket, you might want to treat yourself.
While you can now basically get as many iPhone 5s as you want, the same cannot be said for the iPad mini, which is still limited to two per customer per time. Once the smaller slate has been out for a while and Apple manages to get production numbers up to speed with demand, it’ll certainly follow in the footsteps of the iPhone 5 with a more relaxed buying policy.
Some have had to wait up to four weeks to get a hold of one of tech’s most-lauded releases of the year in the iPhone 5, and although nearly every iPhone release has seen this kind of protocol followed, the redesign of the iPhone 5 certainly did not help matters. Assemblers struggled with the anodized aluminum back-plate, which is prone to scratching on the black + slate model, and with reports of tempers flaring within the Foxconn factories between quality control and those on the assembly line, it’s great everything now appears to be in order.
(via CultofMac)
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