Weekly Review: iPhone 5 Pre-orders Strong, Detailed Specs Emerge

The iPhone craze continued last week as the latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular device hit the shelves; good for Cupertino, bad for manufacturers whose product unveilings were overshadowed by the iPhone 5 hype. It’s no wonder many are choosing to wait until the storm passes before introducing their own new devices.

The highlight of last week’s Apple news was the record 2 million pre-orders placed within the first 24 hours, which puts Apple’s current high of 4 million orders in the first 3 days within reach. However, as Apple has made no announcements on the matter in the past week, it seems doubtful any records were broken. Regardless, lines were around the block as always on release day, and initial reviews have been strong.

While traditionally Apple does not discuss iPhone specifications further after its introduction, curiosity surrounding the latest-generation device is naturally high between the product’s unveiling and release dates. This time, the focus was on the new A6 processor, the performance of which is unbelievably fast. As for the iPhone 5’s upgraded chip, the specific model was revealed by iFixit, as in past years. The new iOS 6 is also receiving plenty of attention; among the topics most widely discussed are further integration with Facebook and the replacement of Google Maps with Apple’s own program.

While the iPhone undoubtedly took center stage last week, some companies were undaunted and went ahead with product unveilings. Motorola Mobility for one, with its new device that runs on a Medfield-class Intel x86 Atom processor. HTC introduced two models of the latest Windows Phone, running Windows 8, and rumors have surfaced that Samsung is moving to introduce the Galaxy S4 earlier than originally planned. While Samsung has denied any truth in such statements, the influence of the iPhone is clear. Notably, Chinese budget smartphone maker Xiaomi introduced the Xiaomi 1S last week, stating pre-orders reached 300 thousand in 4 minutes and 12 seconds: a magnitude on par with the iPhone 5, though many are skeptical of the claim.

Memory news was also abundant last week, as SSD price has reached the market sweet spot and may see explosive growth shortly.Tthe NAND flash market, however, remained sluggish, with contract price staying flat.