Despite the smaller than expected lines yesterday at Verizon VZ for the Apple AAPL iPhone, it could potentially be the catalyst for a buying opportunity.
Lines were shorter in the Northeast, especially New York City, which was surprisingly quiet. Channel checking firms believe that Apple's stock will take a momentary "breather" today in price once investors realize that day 1 was a disappointment, although the firm expects that Apple will continue to rally mid- and long-term.
"We prepared for more," Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said. "When you have people over for dinner, don't you prepare for more?"
"It is cold out but it's a surprise that there's not many people showing up for the launch," said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, who channel checked stores across New York. "They had Verizon store clerks prepared for the masses and the masses just weren't there."
Some are attributing the lack of lines to pre-ordering. Existing Verizon customers were allowed to pre-order the phone on February, and some have speculated that as many as 500,000 phones were sold on the first day. Verizon said it was by far the most successful launch in its history.
"I don't think the investment community was expecting a huge blow out line of first day sales. It's not a new device," Mizuho Securities USA analyst Michael Nelson said. "Most of the existing customers have had the chance to preorder the phone."
Disclosure: no position in names mentioned
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