iPhone supply running low with AT&T, some Apple Stores

[AppleInsider]

Despite an apparent surplus after the June 29th launch, iPhones have largely been sold out at AT&T shops and have also run out at some of Apple's own outlets.

AT&T reported on Saturday that the company had all but depleted the supply of the Apple handsets it had been given for the launch just a day before. The cellphone carrier was unwilling to state just how many of the phones had been sold but noted that "virtually all" of the company-run stores had sold out completely.

Various allegations have been made online, however, that suggested each of AT&T's more than 1800 official stores received relatively few of the devices versus their Apple counterparts, making them more likely to run out from the beginning. Apple has so far declined to say how many units had passed through its doors, and said only that it had seen "a lot of excitement and buzz" at its 162 US shops, according to a company spokeswoman.

Apple supply, in turn, had initially been healthy but was also set to run low over the course of the weekend. The firm's web-based availability tracker initially reported all American stores as having stock on hand by the end of Friday evening but is now showing signs that its own retail branches are feeling the effects of strong initial demand.

California was the hardest hit by the first wave of customers, according to the charts. Outlets in the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions have cleared nearly all of their iPhones, with the Bay Area's stock having reportedly emptied its backrooms particularly quickly.

"The Burlingame Apple Store went through two shipments of iPhones this morning, selling out by 10:30AM," said Scott Beale of art promo house Laughing Squid. "I was able to get there just in time."

Parts of Hawaii and Texas were also reporting iPhone droughts as of Saturday night, while certain major cities such as Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Miami, and Oklahoma City similarly claimed to have exhausted their supplies.

[K.C.]

http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/

[anantksundaram]

That perhaps explains why, in the mall where I got my iPhone at the Apple Store (AS), there were about 300 people lined up outside the AS, but barely a handful outside the ATT store upstairs! And, as far as I could tell, not one person left the Apple line to go to the ATT line.

Smart thinking, I guess, since all of those waiting in the Apple got theirs on Friday evening -- the process was managed in a very civilized, calm way, with Apple even handing out free bottles of water to those waiting in line. I was probably #250 in line, and I got mine at 6.45 PM. (I don't know about the ATT store).

Btw, did I mention that this product justifies every bit of its hype? If 'crackberrys' were addictive, I have a feeling this will end up requiring AA (Apple-oholics Anonymous)!

[anantksundaram]

This is perhaps an obvious one, but still one, nonetheless, that Apple should have reiterated for the average buyer: You not only have to have the latest version of iTunes installed (7.3?), but you must also be online. O/w, the purchase is a bust when you get it home (unless, of course, you took it right away to an ATT store to get it activated).

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Smart thinking, I guess, since all of those waiting in the Apple got theirs on Friday evening -- the process was managed in a very civilized, calm way, with Apple even handing out free bottles of water to those waiting in line. I was probably #250 in line, and I got mine at 6.45 PM. (I don't know about the ATT store).

Numbr 250 after 45 minutes you say. Did you see many people buying 2 iPhones? Did tehy mention any supply constraints of the 4 or 8GB models?

I'm trying to figure out how many iPhones the Apple stores received to then determine how many have been sold. From the comments, articles and blogs I've read it appears that there was at least 400 or 500 units per store.

I think the 25 or so per AT&T store sounds about right but I can't figure out the Apple Store figures. If I were in the country I'd call a couple Apple Stores and inquire.

[gobo]

The sys requirements are available as with any Apple product listing. While I can appreciate how this information can be overlooked, it is nonetheless, printed on the box.

[ajhill]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

That perhaps explains why, in the mall where I got my iPhone at the Apple Store (AS), there were about 300 people lined up outside the AS, but barely a handful outside the ATT store upstairs! And, as far as I could tell, not one person left the Apple line to go to the ATT line.

Smart thinking, I guess, since all of those waiting in the Apple got theirs on Friday evening -- the process was managed in a very civilized, calm way, with Apple even handing out free bottles of water to those waiting in line. I was probably #250 in line, and I got mine at 6.45 PM. (I don't know about the ATT store).

Btw, did I mention that this product justifies every bit of its hype? If 'crackberrys' were addictive, I have a feeling this will end up requiring AA (Apple-oholics Anonymous)!

AA (Apple-oholics Anonymous)! Love it! And yes, I will be at the first meeting!

Forget all the superlatives. It can all be said with the following: "Simply the best consumer product I have ever purchased." It's that good and will get even better as I learn the subtleties tomorrow at the Apple store workshop. The summer's looking up!

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Numbr 250 after 45 minutes you say. Did you see many people buying 2 iPhones? Did tehy mention any supply constraints of the 4 or 8GB models?

I'm trying to figure out how many iPhones the Apple stores received to then determine how many have been sold. From the comments, articles and blogs I've read it appears that there was at least 400 or 500 units per store.

I think the 25 or so per AT&T store sounds about right but I can't figure out the Apple Store figures. If I were in the country I'd call a couple Apple Stores and inquire.

I'd say that roughly one or two in every ten walked out with two. So, your guess of 500 in the store that I was at may not be such a bad estimate. But I was not at a 'big city' store such as in Boston or NYC. I wouldn't be surprised if they had double that number.

So, if we say, an average of 600-700 per Apple store, we are talking about 110,000-125,000 in total? Add to that, perhaps, 25 handsets per ATT store times 1500 stores = 37,500. Thus, it is possible that Apple sold a total of ~150K - 160K handsets thru retail outlets on Day 1. Assuming equal parts 4GB and 8GB, that's $80 million - $90 million revenues.

And, no one mentioned any supply constraints for either model -- indeed, I had the sense that the employees were told that the party line was, "we have no idea how many we have left, it is just on a first come, fist served basis; we'll keep going until we run out."

[fraklinc]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Numbr 250 after 45 minutes you say. Did you see many people buying 2 iPhones? Did tehy mention any supply constraints of the 4 or 8GB models?

I'm trying to figure out how many iPhones the Apple stores received to then determine how many have been sold. From the comments, articles and blogs I've read it appears that there was at least 400 or 500 units per store.

I think the 25 or so per AT&T store sounds about right but I can't figure out the Apple Store figures. If I were in the country I'd call a couple Apple Stores and inquire.

when i got in line at 4:00pm there was around 800 people in line the lines when all around the mall but it when fast though, when i seen kids like 8 to 12 year olds walking out with 2 i started freaking out but, the manager came out and said there was enough for everyone in line, i whent back today and theres still people making lines there, its like they where been made on the spot, and the store is still showing stock,not to mention apple employees where handing out refreshments and coffee and water A+ for apple

[SpamSandwich]

What kind of idiot parent lets their 8 or 12 year old get a $600 phone? Unbelievable. Some parents spoil their kids to the point of making them unbearable to deal with.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by fraklinc

apple stores have to have more than 1000+

Very cool. Is that a large Apple Store?

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

So, if we say, an average of 600-700 per Apple store, we are talking about 110,000-125,000 in total? Add to that, perhaps, 25 handsets per ATT store times 1500 stores = 37,500. Thus, it is possible that Apple sold a total of ~150K - 160K handsets thru retail outlets on Day 1. Assuming equal parts 4GB and 8GB, that's $80 million - $90 million revenues.

Don't forget about the AT&T and Apple Store online sales. I think that could easily double the numbers.

I still have a 2-4 week ship date, but this is a typical Apple strategy. I'm hopeful it will ship within a few days.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

What kind of idiot parent lets their 8 or 12 year old get a $600 phone? Unbelievable idiocy.

Maybe they were buying it for their parents and were paid to stand in line. Maybe they saved up money themselves. Maybe they were middle aged with a rare growth stunting disease.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Maybe they were buying it for their parents and were paid to stand in line. Maybe they saved up money themselves. Maybe they were middle aged with a rare growth stunting disease.

[gimmegimmemomo]

For what it's worth . . . for those trying to estimate first weekend sales totals . . . I was told that every AT&T store received 60 iPhones (15 4gb and 45 8gb). I was led to believe that's the stock that EVERY one of their stores received, nationwide . . .

But the information came from someone at a northern California store . . . so it's reasonable to speculate that those stores were sent more than, say, an AT&T store in Iowa . . . and what was meant was that all the stores IN HIS AREA go the same stock of 60 phones.

Anyway . . . FYI

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by gimmegimmemomo

For what it's worth . . . for those trying to estimate first weekend sales totals . . . I was told that every AT&T store received 60 iPhones (15 4gb and 45 8gb). I was led to believe that's the stock that EVERY one of their stores received, nationwide . . .

But the information came from someone at a northern California store . . . so it's reasonable to speculate that those stores were sent more than, say, an AT&T store in Iowa . . . and what was meant was that all the stores IN HIS AREA go the same stock of 60 phones.

Anyway . . . FYI

Someone needs to do some random calling to AT&T and Apple Store on Sunday so we can get a better idea of the insider account of unit sales for this Apple product. *cough* Kasper? *Cough*

[aaarrrgggh]

From reports, it sounds like an average of 70-80 iPhones per AT&T store for just under 150k units, and 160k units at the Apple stores.

My hope is that they can pull off 1M sales in the first week, but it is a stretch. It sounds like the Apple stores sold out from their stock by Saturday morning. If they got another delivery late morning, then they have a shot at it. Since everything else has been orchestrated so well, I can only hope that they managed to handle distribution perfectly...

It's going to be interesting to find out how it all went...

[Cato988]

i called 3 ATT stores in my area and they all said 50 units

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Maybe they were buying it for their parents and were paid to stand in line. Maybe they saved up money themselves. Maybe they were middle aged with a rare growth stunting disease.

You have hit the nail on the head. The parents would be sitting in a cafe with a an espresso or two and a croissant and would send the offspring to do the line waiting. Some time later the child dutifully returns and is rewarded with their coke, latest bionicle or whatever. Definitely the way to do it.

[schoolboytim]

I live in Southern California and I went to 2 stores, one in Costa Mesa, and one in Whittier, and they both did not have ANY iPhones on hand. ZERO. They told us all they could do was have us place orders and we would get them before the stores even got their shipments. They said that we could have them by earliest on Tuesday (July 3rd)

Only a few AT&T stores in my area had iPhones actually on hand.. and I was told that those stores only received 20. (And the line at the Brea mall was 2,000+ people strong)

[MHenigan49]

I am here in Atlanta and choose to do something different and went to line up at the AT&T store in Atlantic Station (new inner city downtown shopping area), I got there at 12:40 om and was only 14th in line.

At about 3pm the Manager came out and told me that everyone in that line could get the iPhone of their choice, she said she had enough for 8g models for everyone in that line at the time. There were a little more then 30 of us at that point. Once the doors opened we had about 50.

The Lenox Mall Store had about 250 by 11am and I am sure it was well over 400 by opening.

So I am sure that the AT&T store had at least 50 phones, if not more. Interesting thing to note is that at the store we were in, the employees still were trying to process the phones like the do with any other phone and was taking forever to buy your phone. I was 14th in line and didn't even step up and have my hand on a phone until 6:35!

[Idle]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

What kind of idiot parent lets their 8 or 12 year old get a $600 phone? Unbelievable. Some parents spoil their kids to the point of making them unbearable to deal with.

Someone at the store I was at said that he had bought two iPhones at an AT&T store on Friday and as he was walking out, he saw a man give each of his children a wad of cash...he was then approached by the kids who offered $1200 each for his phones. And people wonder why some kids are growing up without proper values

On the Apple Store front, I saw probably 75% of people walk out with 2 phones, mostly of the 8gb variety. It's a pretty wealthy area, though.

[backtomac]

Initial sales will be off the chart. I suspect a lot of buyers are profiteers and are listing them for sale on ebay. Sales one month from now will tell you if the iPhone is going to be next big thing.

[ncee]

Originally Posted by backtomac

Initial sales will be off the chart. I suspect a lot of buyers are profiteers and are listing them for sale on ebay. Sales one month from now will tell you if the iPhone is going to be next big thing.

There are already OVER 14,000 listings for iPhones on ebay… man that didn't take long.

I hope for someones sake, they sell them. I mean $1200.00, come on. Most people will wait inline for 10 - 30 minutes to purchase one for a whole hell of a lot less then that (time based on purchasing any time from Monday forward)

Oh, many sales end within the next few hours - and NO bites yet;

Skip

[palex9]

signed up yesterday via itunes and requested port of my sprint number. it said it would take 6 hours. now, 12 hours later, the switch is still not completed. no email saying how long it will take, in fact NO EMAIL FROM ATT as to my service plan, or welcome msg, at all! only a brief msg saying they are wokring on my account. no contact phone number, nothing. now i know why i left that sorry outfit a few years back. if i am not VERY HAPPY within the next 30 days back it all goes.

[velorandy@mac.com]

As of Saturday night 8pm.... a salesperson at Apple Store in Troy, MI told me their supply of iPhones was getting extremely low.... but still had both models.

[palex9]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

What kind of idiot parent lets their 8 or 12 year old get a $600 phone? Unbelievable. Some parents spoil their kids to the point of making them unbearable to deal with.

i agree. its not really the kids that are to blame, its the parents! unfortunately its my generation that to a large part has failed miserably in the parenting dept. case in point: paris hiton's parents. these ueber=losers are more star struck than their daughters. paris in jail? so what, lets go to some red carpt event! she wants to (and did) drop out of high school? thats ok, honey! britney, lindsay, etc etc.

[dett]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Numbr 250 after 45 minutes you say. Did you see many people buying 2 iPhones? Did tehy mention any supply constraints of the 4 or 8GB models?

I'm trying to figure out how many iPhones the Apple stores received to then determine how many have been sold. From the comments, articles and blogs I've read it appears that there was at least 400 or 500 units per store.

I think the 25 or so per AT&T store sounds about right but I can't figure out the Apple Store figures. If I were in the country I'd call a couple Apple Stores and inquire.

I'm not sure on the 25 per AT&T store. I'm in Tallahassee, which isn't exactly a huge city, and there are only three AT&T stores here. There were about 50 people at the one where I waited, and everyone ended up with a phone, and the store still had stock.

Then again, there's no Apple store in Tallahassee, so the AT&T stores had to get all the inventory for the city.

[lfe2211]

Originally Posted by ncee

There are already OVER 14,000 listings for iPhones on ebay… man that didn't take long.

I hope for someones sake, they sell them. I mean $1200.00, come on. Most people will wait inline for 10 - 30 minutes to purchase one for a whole hell of a lot less then that (time based on purchasing any time from Monday forward)

Oh, many sales end within the next few hours - and NO bites yet;

Skip

Almost no one is bidding or buying iPhones on ebay. I've got a custom search set up to flag sales. There may be a few dummies or Nigerian scammers doing so, but nothing is happening iPhone-wise on eBay except for eBay getting all those listing fees. If there are long shipment delays by Apple into normal channels, there may be a "Nintendo Wii" effect in coming months. New Wiis now sell on ebay at almost 1 every 2 minutes during major ebay traffic hours with a premium range of about $50-$100 on a $250 retail item,i.e. 20-40%. Two weeks ago, I sold 4 Wiis at $335 each with a listing that lasted about 30 hours. The sale of this device has reached epidemic proportions in the US. If the iPhone becomes similiar to the Wii, high demand & low supply, then it will sell at a premium on ebay.

Edit--I just checked. About 500 new Wiis were sold yesterday on eBay in the price range $299-$350.

[EruIthildur]

Originally Posted by lfe2211

Almost no one is bidding or buying iPhones on ebay. I've got a custom search set up to flag sales. There may be a few dummies or Nigerian scammers doing so, but nothing is happening iPhone-wise on eBay except for eBay getting all those listing fees. If there are long shipment delays by Apple into normal channels, there may be a "Nintendo Wii" effect in coming months. New Wiis now sell on ebay at almost 1 every 2 minutes during major ebay traffic hours with a premium range of about $50-$100 on a $250 retail item,i.e. 20-40%. Two weeks ago, I sold 4 Wiis at $335 each with a listing that lasted about 30 hours. The sale of this device has reached epidemic proportions in the US. If the iPhone becomes similiar to the Wii, high demand & low supply, then it will sell at a premium on ebay.

Edit--I just checked. About 500 new Wiis were sold yesterday on eBay in the price range $299-$350.

Although it creates hype, that is all it would do for Apple as they don't see the profit on a re-sale. So I doubt that they are too inclined to help people sell their device as the other person could just be an additional sale.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by palex9

signed up yesterday via itunes and requested port of my sprint number. it said it would take 6 hours. now, 12 hours later, the switch is still not completed. no email saying how long it will take, in fact NO EMAIL FROM ATT as to my service plan, or welcome msg, at all! only a brief msg saying they are wokring on my account. no contact phone number, nothing. now i know why i left that sorry outfit a few years back. if i am not VERY HAPPY within the next 30 days back it all goes.

Did you try the tips in this story?

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...nd_iphone.html

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by gobo

The sys requirements are available as with any Apple product listing. While I can appreciate how this information can be overlooked, it is nonetheless, printed on the box.

This seems a little random. Who are you responding to? I can't find anyone else talking about system requirements in this thread or in the original article.

[stevesreed]

I wonder how many of the Stores listed as having iPhones in stock on Apple Site have one 4G models Left.

I know UTC in San Diego ran out of 8G models Sunday afternoon. The store was packed with people (typical for a weekend) but no one wanted the 4G phones. There was a pile of about 29 of them just siting there...

[willrob]

See post number three for what he was responding to.

[jeffhrsn]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Add to that, perhaps, 25 handsets per ATT store

FWIW, I saw more than 25 handsets walk out of an AT&T store that night. I'm sure that number is too low.

[jeffhrsn]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

What kind of idiot parent lets their 8 or 12 year old get a $600 phone? Unbelievable. Some parents spoil their kids to the point of making them unbearable to deal with.

I'm sure someone, somewhere might say the same about a phone costing $25. It's all relative. $600 is not necessarily "big bux" to someone else. Lumping all prosperous people's children into the "unbearable" category is a bit presumptuous and not always likely to be accurate.

[lfe2211]

Originally Posted by jeffhrsn

FWIW, I saw more than 25 handsets walk out of an AT&T store that night. I'm sure that number is too low.

You're absolutely correct. CNBC's "On the Money" show at 6pm CST was broadcast live from a Chicago Loop AT&T store. The line was well over 200 people and growing. An AT&T exec who was interviewed live on the air outside the store said they had supply for all those currently in line.

[mstone]

I think that report of all stores getting equal quantities is quite illogical. Apple is managing the distribution with a very precise "just in time" allocation formula. I'm sure they have an expert team working 24/7 just to manage the flow of handsets to each location - all delivered by the FedEx mission critical division.

[lfe2211]

Here's the latest headline story from Bloomberg.

Apple's IPhone Sells Out at Most AT&T Stores, Swamping Network

"Shoppers snapped up as many as 200,000 iPhones the first day after the device went on sale June 29, according to Global Equities Research. While it was still available at all 164 Apple stores yesterday, AT&T said most of its 1,800 stores no longer had the phone in stock. AT&T is the only mobile-phone service that works with the iPhone."


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...OFY&refer=home

[desarc]

here in central connecticut i showed up at the mall around 5:15 friday night. there were @400 people in line at the apple store. i was amazed there were that many. instead of flocking into the line [bahhh] i walked over the to att store, about 100 yards away & 1 floor down. there were about 30 people in line in front of me.

well it took me until 6:30 to get into the store. [they were having problems selling units because there sales server [opal?] kept crashing. while i was in the store, people were running to the front of the store saying the apple store had sold out in less than 30 minutes and that less than half of the people in line got phones - i don't know how many bought two].

i asked the sales clerk how many units they had in stock, and she said they were asked not to give out that info... strange.

what i want to know is who is actually buyibng a 4gb version?!?!? anyone here buy a 4gb?

btw, this thing is awesome.
the keyboard was very annoying at first, but i'm getting much better at it. you really do have to "trust" it. just type a word w/ typos and hit space, it's getting better and better at guessing what i meant to spell. [if i slow down just a bit i don't get typos, but that's not the point in the software]

the interface is extremely fast and elegant. web browsing on wifi is fine [not as fast as my laptop of course, but that must be the iPhone processor drawing and scaling??? i went to the beach and tried out edge browsing yesterday. it is very slow [duh] but i had plenty of time. still i found myself going to WAP sites if i just wanted to know something fast [like that the yankees lost again :P]

the camera is about what you'd expect. not so great but does the job. i won't be leaving my canon behind anytime i plan on taking pictures. actually i don't like the interface for the camera - why can't they make the vol up or vol down the shutter release? if you're not careful, pressing the on-screen button to take a picture will move your phone slightly and blur your picture.

i set a password for my phone, but it's a bit annoying to have to type in 4 numbers every time i unlock the thing. note to apple: THUMBPRINT recognition for security in future versions!

the little mic/button on the headphones is brilliant. it does everything i want it to - play/pause/skip, and answer and hang up calls - with one tiny button.

lastly i'm unhappy to see that i'm not the only one how had trouble activating their phone. i was plannin on going to a block party friday night, but spent 2.5 hours on the phone w/ att in order to get my phone activated. step two in the itunes activation told me to call att at the number shown onscreen. very very frustrating to have just bought this thing and have to stare at the "activate/connect to itunes" screen.

[mrjoec123]

Any information that you get from any retail employee of either Apple or ATT is either speculation or complete BS. I know several Apple store managers and not one of them has any clue about number of units sold or delivered to any store beyond their own. Apple keeps those numbers as "need to know" as any other information, and for good reason.

There is a legion of reporters out there just dying to find any numbers to justify a claim that iPhone was overhyped. I suspect all these guesses are not very close to the truth. Only Steve knows for sure, and he won't be talking for a while.

Calling around to ATT stores is a waste of time. They know nothing.