I didn’t wait all line to get an iPhone 6 or 6+.
But apparently a lot of people did.
In San Francisco, I saw a report on Facebook that the line wrapped around three streets. That’s a little disappointing, considering it’s San Francisco. I would have expected a line of at least a couple of miles long.
Syracuse.com’s Geoff Herbert did some investigating to find out what’s up with the line waiting?
Adam Hanft, who works at a New York consulting firm for consumer brands, told Market Watch that shoppers feel validated by a crowd making the same decision as them. “Social proof,” as it’s called, also explains why Black Friday sales get mobbed when certain high-tech products may even be cheaper on other days.
Others say they simply enjoy the experience of meeting like-minded individuals. “Queue chic” is not a waste of time if they’re making friends who agree their purchases are the right choice, Market Watch adds.
But some Syracuse line waiters suggested it was tradition, that they waited in line every year to trade in their old iPhones. Others said they did it because “It has an Apple logo on it.”
Me, I only just ordered an iPhone 5s over the summer, so I’ll wait for the planned obsolescence and iOS degradation to kick in before I consider an upgrade.
If you’re looking for teardown info, iFixit already got their hands on an iPhone 6+. It was a 28-step teardown!!
The other big tech news this morning was the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s initial public offering. Early estimates had the IPO floating at around $68, but Alibaba hit the low $90s right out of the gate, valuing the company at $225.5 billion — that’s more than Facebook, that’s more than Google, that’s more than eBay or Amazon. That trails only Facebook.
Is that valuation too high? Bloomberg’s Leslie Picker suggests not, because Alibaba actually makes money, compared to other recent IPO candidates:
Alibaba’s profits also make it a standout among technology IPOs. Twitter Inc. raised more than $2 billion last year, and Chinese rival JD.Com Inc., which has achieved a $40 billion valuation, raised about $2 billion in May — both without any annual earnings. Alibaba by comparison turns about half of its sales into income.
If you’re trying to remember what exactly it is Alibaba does in China, Picker provides a friendly reminder:
Alibaba provides various marketplaces for buyers and sellers as well as services that help them conduct their businesses. Taobao Marketplace, started in 2003, enables millions of individuals and small businesses to sell products. Tmall.com provides a virtual shopping mall, with retailers and brands offering products, and Juhuasuan operates a flash-sales model.
..and that with a still growing-like-wildfire user base:
Mainland Internet users have grown to 632 million and could exceed 850 million by 2015, according to government data.
Alibaba is trading under the ticker “BABA.”
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