Cupertino, Calif. —
Wireless carrier AT&T said that it has suspended pre-orders of
Cupertino-based Apple’s new iPhone 4, a day after stronger-than-expected
demand for the device overwhelmed the companies’ computer systems.
Apple said that it and carrier partners took more than 600,000
pre-orders on Tuesday — a single-day company record. Sales were
10-times higher than the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 3G S
last year. "[It] was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many
order and approval system malfunctions," Apple said in a statement.
"Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in
frustration."
AT&T had more than 13 million visits to its website,
with customers checking to see if they qualified for upgrades. That’s
about three times the previous record for upgrade checks in a day.
Trying to calm the situation, AT&T said that it has suspended
pre-orders "to fulfill the orders we’ve already received." The device
will be released on June 24.
Related Link
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/06/16iphone.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ATampT-Statement-on-PreOrder-prnews-2203424006.html?x=0&.v=1
I decided to get the iphone late but I’m still amazed at these pre-order numbers.