According to my maths that's 48 million iPhone orders per hour!
Yeah right. That's about the entire adult population of the UK.
Is this a typo or something??
That would only be the peak rate. The total of 200,000 shows that there couldn't have been 13,000 requests per second for long. I know a few people who sat and submitted the forms 10 times or so each and this is what causes the problems. Hype and greed. No one wants to miss out and few want to wait in line.
The same thing happens on forums, if say AI gets busy, people just keep clicking refresh and make the problem worse.
I partly wonder if there's some level of marketing going into this as well though. It's a typical marketing ploy. Make people believe the demand is high and it garners interest with people who otherwise wouldn't really bother. If lots of people really want something then it must be good. At the end of the day, it's a great device but that's all it is. Nothing to get irrational about. If you get one on Friday or next month, you'll get the same experience.
I spoke to a very informative O2 salesman today. He said that Carphone warehouse shops are only get about 20 iPhone's each about 15 8GBs and 5 15GBs. However most O2 stores are expected to get around 100 iPhone's. He said there should be 80 8GBs and 20 16GBs.
I also found out that some Carphone Warehouse shops have got reservation lists. All of them are full in my area which is a bit of a shame .
Thank you for your interest in iPhone 3G. We are experiencing unprecedented demand for the device and whilst we are confident that all customers who want iPhone 3G will get one by the end of this summer, initial supply is limited and will be for some weeks. Here is what you need to know:
O2 and Carphone Warehouse (CPW) stores will have limited numbers of iPhone 3G this Friday 11 July.
On average, we will only have a few dozen iPhone 3Gs per store (some stores more, some stores less, dependant upon store size so we expect to sell out quickly). Sales of iPhone 3G will be limited to one per customer and two for business customers.
Some O2 stores will open at 8.02am on Friday, others a bit later. Find out more
If you do go into an O2 store you will need 2 forms of identification, a valid credit or debit card and proof of address. If you are new to O2 you will also need to pass a credit check if you sign up for an iPhone 3G contract. The average sales transaction processing time will be 20 minutes.
Apple will be selling iPhone 3Gs in their stores, but please note that existing O2 customers can only upgrade in an O2 or CPW store.
We are working closely with Apple to get additional iPhone 3Gs. These will be coming in on a weekly basis. We'll keep you posted on specific details by updating this web page regularly.
We are currently out of stock of iPhone 3Gs via our on-line store, we'll update through www.o2.co.uk when more information becomes available.
If you have an existing iPhone you can still enjoy many of the new features by upgrading your software to version 2.0 from 11 July through iTunes.
We are sorry that we can't meet all demand as quickly as we'd like but we're sure that when you get your new iPhone 3G you'll agree it's been worth the wait.
Comments
According to my maths that's 48 million iPhone orders per hour!
Yeah right. That's about the entire adult population of the UK.
Is this a typo or something??
That would only be the peak rate. The total of 200,000 shows that there couldn't have been 13,000 requests per second for long. I know a few people who sat and submitted the forms 10 times or so each and this is what causes the problems. Hype and greed. No one wants to miss out and few want to wait in line.
The same thing happens on forums, if say AI gets busy, people just keep clicking refresh and make the problem worse.
I partly wonder if there's some level of marketing going into this as well though. It's a typical marketing ploy. Make people believe the demand is high and it garners interest with people who otherwise wouldn't really bother. If lots of people really want something then it must be good. At the end of the day, it's a great device but that's all it is. Nothing to get irrational about. If you get one on Friday or next month, you'll get the same experience.
I also found out that some Carphone Warehouse shops have got reservation lists. All of them are full in my area which is a bit of a shame
http://shop.o2.co.uk/info/
Summary
Thank you for your interest in iPhone 3G. We are experiencing unprecedented demand for the device and whilst we are confident that all customers who want iPhone 3G will get one by the end of this summer, initial supply is limited and will be for some weeks. Here is what you need to know:
O2 and Carphone Warehouse (CPW) stores will have limited numbers of iPhone 3G this Friday 11 July.
On average, we will only have a few dozen iPhone 3Gs per store (some stores more, some stores less, dependant upon store size so we expect to sell out quickly). Sales of iPhone 3G will be limited to one per customer and two for business customers.
Some O2 stores will open at 8.02am on Friday, others a bit later. Find out more
If you do go into an O2 store you will need 2 forms of identification, a valid credit or debit card and proof of address. If you are new to O2 you will also need to pass a credit check if you sign up for an iPhone 3G contract. The average sales transaction processing time will be 20 minutes.
Apple will be selling iPhone 3Gs in their stores, but please note that existing O2 customers can only upgrade in an O2 or CPW store.
We are working closely with Apple to get additional iPhone 3Gs. These will be coming in on a weekly basis. We'll keep you posted on specific details by updating this web page regularly.
We are currently out of stock of iPhone 3Gs via our on-line store, we'll update through www.o2.co.uk when more information becomes available.
If you have an existing iPhone you can still enjoy many of the new features by upgrading your software to version 2.0 from 11 July through iTunes.
We are sorry that we can't meet all demand as quickly as we'd like but we're sure that when you get your new iPhone 3G you'll agree it's been worth the wait.
...you can still enjoy many of the new features by updating your software to version 2.0 from 11 July through iTunes
Is this the first place the date of the availability of the 2.0 update has been confirmed?