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June 17, 2010

AT&T says it has halted all pre-orders and sales for Apple's new iPhone 4 devices.

It looks like the overall demand for the new devices is greatly surpassing supply, much like it did with the iPhone 3 and the iPhone 3GS.

A few issues also happened when the first iPhone was first introduced three years ago and AT&T and Apple servers couldn't keep up with the huge amount of new orders.

Apple's launch of its new 3G iPhone in July 2008 got off to a rocky start when customers buying the new wireless handset were having trouble synching their new phone to Apple's iTunes service in retail stores.

When both AT&T and Apple began selling the 2G version of the iPhone, which let people activate the device at home, as many as 4 million handsets were believed to have gone overseas.

Because the phone was only available in the U.S. at the time, the 2 companies changed the activation process to try to thwart international sales.

On its website, AT&T says pre-orders to the iPhone 4 are temporarily suspended but gives no indication on when they will resume.

On the Apple website, people trying to pre-order the device are told the shipping date will be July 2nd, which is exactly 8 days after the device is expected to be available at retail stores on June 24th.

AT&T later said that pre-orders were ten times higher than they were the first day pre-orders could be taken for the 3G iPhone so the wireless carrier stopped taking orders so it can fill the orders it already has.

"Déja vu" you say? Yes, it is.

It will be interesting to see how fast and just how efficiently Apple and AT&T can respond to such a huge demand for the new iPhone 4.

One thing is almost certain: With the iPhone 4, Apple appears to have hit the nail right on its head, one more time.

So the next question is: When will Apple come out with the iPhone 5?

In July of 2008 when Apple launched its new iPhone 3G, the waiting lines grew longer when stock ran out at an AT&T store upstairs. Most customers in the queue were 30 to 50 years old and several were using their current iPhones and laptops to stay in touch with their jobs through various Wi-Fi networks in the mall.

Approaching the long line, and talking on her first-generation iPhone, customer Raquel Hodge said she expected to wait and didn't mind at all.

In 2007, her family paid $400 in termination fees to escape their old contracts using Motorola RAZRs. ?"My husband and I had to have it," she said.?We don?t care because it's for the convenience.

"It's not to me a godsend of a product," said Rod Gammon, who stood in front of Stetler in the ever-growing line. Gammon's view of the iPhone 3G is more pragmatic. Its features save him 30 minutes each day because he can work while commuting to Manhattan. To get all of the iPhone's features on other phones would probably cost more, he said.

Another customer, Stephen Stetler, already downloaded the new iPhone firmware but still wanted the new hardware for its high-speed networking. He said waiting in line with fellow Apple enthusiasts is fun. And as long as it takes.

"I can come here tomorrow and probably walk in and walk out. But it's the experience?he said.

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Source: AT&T.