Love it or hate it, there is without doubt that the iPhone commands huge selling power. Carriers all over the world can’t wait to get their hands on the device as it will sell without fail, so it is really no surprise that Best Buy is blaming the drop in their Q2 fiscal income on the lack of a “major smartphone introduction”.
For the past iterations of the iPhone, they have been released like clockwork every year roughly around the same time. This year things were different and the iPhone 5 did not see a launch mid-year which many people had expected it would. Some are saying that it is because the device was not yet ready while others are saying that it was because of a deal Apple made with Verizon, who wanted to sell as many CDMA iPhone 4s as they could before the release of its successor.
It appears that the lack of an iPhone 5 not only disappointed many fans, but also affected Best Buy’s fiscal income for the second quarter of 2011. According to the reports, Best Buy’s fiscal income for Q2 fell 30% to $177 million compared to the same period last year, thus seeing Best Buy’s projected revenue drop from $11.5 billion to $11.3 billion, which caused their stock prices to fall 8% to its lowest level since 2008.
While they did not actually point fingers at Apple and the much-anticipated iPhone 5, the sudden shift in gears from an otherwise clockwork release leaves little to the imagination. However given the rumors of a possible iPhone 5 release in October, if that is indeed the case, Best Buy should be able to expect sales to start picking up again.