iPhone supply generally meets initial demand

Stephen Withers
Monday, 02 July 2007 12:37

Your IT - Mobility

Most of those who queued to buy an iPhone needn't have bothered - most Apple Stores had enough stock to last through the opening weekend.

According to Apple's web site, some stores in California, Florida (Miami only), Nevada (Las Vegas only), New Jersey and Texas had sold out of iPhones by Sunday evening.

What's not revealed by that page is whether each store with stock has both the reportedly more popular 8G model or just the 4G.

CNet reports Gene Munster (of investment bank Piper Jaffray) estimated that Apple sold around 500,000 iPhones over the weekend, and that 95 percent of buyers in San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis went for the 8G model.

If Apple Stores had  adequate stocks, it was a different story at AT&T stores, with reports of sellouts on Friday night or Saturday at many locations.

Prior to the launch, reports circulated that Apple and AT&T had as many as three million units ready to go.

One fly in the ointment is that some buyers have run into problems activating their new iPhones. Difficulties reported by readers of popular Mac web site MacFixIt include problems with activating iPhones on existing business accounts, transferring phone numbers from other carriers,

Others report everything going smoothly, including one reader who activated his new iPhone on an old, low-cost plan and simply added the $20 data option. Most buyers seem happy (deliriously so in some cases) with the iPhone itself, but a fair number are less impressed with AT&T's ability to get them on the air.