##title## The iPhone 4S was unveiled at Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event on October 4, 2011 in Cupertino, California. Apple started taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4S on October 7, 2011 in seven initial countries (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan) with a first delivery date set for October 14, 2011, and available on that same day for direct store sales in those countries. It will be released in 22 more European, American and Asian countries, including Ireland, Mexico and Singapore on October 28.
For US customers, while pre-orders for purchasers buying contracts started on October 7, 2011, unlocked (contract-free) sales are expected to begin in November 2011. AP said that AT&T described early iPhone 4S demand as "extraordinary".
For some, a series of expectations about Apple's next generation phone including various specifications and a predicted name ("iPhone 5") were built up in the time preceding its debut. After the iPhone 4S was announced, there was some disappointment about the new phone. However, as early as May 2011 some leaks had a fairly accurate description of the product including the name "iPhone 4S", the A5 chip, HSPA+, new/better camera, and Sprint carrying. As it turn out, there was no major or minor external differences between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the changes were inside. Nevertheless, it has still been described as a "dramatic leap forward in technological innovation and sophistication...". The keynote was the first in which Tim Cook led since the Verizon keynote earlier in the year. It was also Cook's first product launch without Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, whose health was deteriorating. Tim Carmody of Wired praised Cook for focusing on company achievements, calling him a "global business thinker" and a "taskmaster". One unique aspect was that the whole management team of several people took turns discussing the new products.
Reuters suggests this could open new market opportunities for rivals. Shares of Samsung Electronics, HTC and Nokia gained on Wednesday after the 4S was announced, while Apple stock dipped sharply. However, later in the day Apple shares rebounded, ending at a 1% gain. Analyst C. K. Lu of Gartner believes that Apple no longer has the leading edge and 4S will only sell due to brand loyalty, as fans were expecting an iPhone 5 with a thinner profile, bigger screen and stronger features. Some of these same people also wanted a cheaper stripped down iPhone 4.
With the launch of the pre-order, AT&T said that the demand for the iPhone 4S was "extraordinary". Over 200,000 pre-orders were placed within 12 hours through AT&T. In addition, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint sold out of pre-order stock by October 8th, 2011 and by the 9th there was a 1-2 week estimate on new pre-orders to be filled. On October 20, 2011 AT&T surpassed 1 million iPhone 4S activations.
On October 10th, Apple announced that over one million iPhone 4Ss had been pre-ordered within the first 24 hours of it being on sale, beating the 600,000 device record set by the iPhone 4. It is believed that Steve Jobs' death helped in drastically increasing the pre-orders of the iPhone 4S, as it is the last Apple product in which he had a hand in developing. The 16-month wait between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S may have contributed to overwhelming sales as well.
By October 11th, early reviews of the iPhone 4S were released. Reviewers noted the software voice assistant, camera system, and processing speeds. Retrevo surveyed more than 1,300 U.S. consumers and reported that 71 percent of all smartphone owners were not disappointed by the new iPhone 4S but 47 percent or almost a half of current iPhone 4 owners were. 12 percent were hoping for a bigger display, 21 percent wanted a refreshed design, and 29 percent desired 4G. Unlike previous iPhone models, the sales of the iPhone 4 had not climaxed prior to the 4S introduction. For example, the 3G model came out when sales of the first iPhone had declined to less than half their peak. In addition, iPhone 4 users had high marks for being satisfied with their phone. Nevertheless, they wanted even more from Apple, but forgot that from Apple's perspective the iPhone 4 was still a hit and that new users may not be bothered by the look and feel staying the same, because they did not have iPhone 4 in the first place.
