iPhone 4 orders through Apple now ship by July 14, arrive even later
Shipping dates for iPhone 4 slipped for the second time in less than 24 hours Wednesday, as preorders for both the 16GB and 32GB models are now scheduled to ship by July 14.
The delay means that some customers may not receive their handset until nearly a month after it launches on June 24, when shipping time is considered.
Earlier Wednesday, Apple moved back new iPhone 4 orders, promising they would ship by July 2. Those orders were scheduled to be delivered between July 6 and July 8, meaning customers could have to wait as long as two weeks after the June 24 launch to receive their iPhone.
Assuming the same shipping time, orders sent out on July 14 would not likely arrive until around Monday, July 19. That would be 25 days -- or nearly four weeks -- after the June 24 launch.
Apple announced that more than 600,000 devices were preordered on the first day of iPhone 4 availability. The Cupertino, Calif., company also took the opportunity to apologize to customers who encountered difficulties in placing their preorder.
Both Apple and AT&T, its exclusive wireless carrier in the U.S., experienced issues, as AT&T's servers struggled to verify eligibility for some existing customers, and Apple was forced to turn away callers to its toll-free telephone number.
Orders through AT&T are no longer an option for U.S. customers, as the wireless carrier announced Wednesday that it was suspending preorders due to demand ten times higher than for the iPhone 3GS. The company said it has temporarily suspended preorders so it can fulfill the orders it has already received, and the availability of additional inventory will determine whether they will resume taking preorders.
Preorders remain limited to the black iPhone 4 model, as the white version is listed as currently unavailable for purchase. Third-party retailers such as Best Buy have also halted preorders of the white model.
The delay means that some customers may not receive their handset until nearly a month after it launches on June 24, when shipping time is considered.
Earlier Wednesday, Apple moved back new iPhone 4 orders, promising they would ship by July 2. Those orders were scheduled to be delivered between July 6 and July 8, meaning customers could have to wait as long as two weeks after the June 24 launch to receive their iPhone.
Assuming the same shipping time, orders sent out on July 14 would not likely arrive until around Monday, July 19. That would be 25 days -- or nearly four weeks -- after the June 24 launch.
Apple announced that more than 600,000 devices were preordered on the first day of iPhone 4 availability. The Cupertino, Calif., company also took the opportunity to apologize to customers who encountered difficulties in placing their preorder.
Both Apple and AT&T, its exclusive wireless carrier in the U.S., experienced issues, as AT&T's servers struggled to verify eligibility for some existing customers, and Apple was forced to turn away callers to its toll-free telephone number.
Orders through AT&T are no longer an option for U.S. customers, as the wireless carrier announced Wednesday that it was suspending preorders due to demand ten times higher than for the iPhone 3GS. The company said it has temporarily suspended preorders so it can fulfill the orders it has already received, and the availability of additional inventory will determine whether they will resume taking preorders.
Preorders remain limited to the black iPhone 4 model, as the white version is listed as currently unavailable for purchase. Third-party retailers such as Best Buy have also halted preorders of the white model.
Comments
In addition to unprecedented pre-order sales, yesterday there were more than 13 million visits to AT&T?s website where customers can check to see if they are eligible [...]
considering i accounted for about 1 million of those visits, that doesn't sound all that bad.
"iPhone, the smarter phone!". This should be the new Apple trademark.
Can't wait to get mine.
(Sure am glad I persisted yesterday!
....you can just picture the board meeting now "guys, we've got this super hot new phone that everyones going to want, perhaps we should be cautious and only have a million or so available on launch day, what do you guys think?"
I am sure the trade-off was: 600,000 on Day 1 and get it out June 24, versus wait to have a couple of million in hand but delay launch date by a month.
Hindsight is so 20-20.
I guess few people wants the EVO 4G. After all, the buzz was that it will be the iPhone killer.
Oh, how right you are.
You'd have hoped they'd have learnt their lesson over the ipad, lol you can just picture the board meeting now "guys, we've got this super hot new phone that everyones going to want, perhaps we should be cautious and only have a million or so available on launch day, what do you guys think?"
Gee, nobody ever thought of that before.
The factories that Apple contracts can only produce X amount per day. Would you really prefer that Apple delayed the launch 3 months just to build up inventory?
Manufacturing facilities for such cutting edge devices aren't cheap. It doesn't make sense to build tons of extra capacity just to let it sit idle after the first couple months.
I ordered mine from best buy yesterday and they told me I was preorder #15. Do you think I will get my iphone on 6/24?
An interesting divergence: the iPhone 4 has gotten noticeably smaller (both thinner and narrower); the latest batch of top-tier Android phones are getting noticeably larger.
I think it's a mistake on the part of Android makers to go this route, and the rush on iPhone 4, I think, bears this out, at least to some extent*. You aren't really getting that much more screen real estate on the Android phones, not enough that it changes the phone into something iPad-like, so it's basically just going to mean the screen elements are marginally larger, or maybe you can see an extra item in a list, but it becomes more awkward in the hand, and more to lug around. On the other hand, getting smaller means fitting in a pocket more easily (or into other places where it didn't fit well before) and better facilitates one-handed use. The RAZR, after all, was wildly popular based almost entirely on it's small size, and I think people generally don't want their phone to be bigger than it absolutely has to be.
* OK, there are lots of other things that make the phone attractive to lots of people, but I think the size is an important feature.
The factories that Apple contracts can only produce X amount per day. Would you really prefer that Apple delayed the launch 3 months just to build up inventory?
Manufacturing facilities for such cutting edge devices aren't cheap. It doesn't make sense to build tons of extra capacity just to let it sit idle after the first couple months.
It should only take them a month to build 3MM devices, possibly less. With the ramp expectations, and the likely reality that they only want half the units to be delivered (so store crowds are in the news), it still seems like there are a whole lot of missing units.
Ithink Apple is going to have to put more thought into automated assembly provisions in their designs in the future.
It should only take them a month to build 3MM devices, possibly less. With the ramp expectations, and the likely reality that they only want half the units to be delivered (so store crowds are in the news), it still seems like there are a whole lot of missing units.
Ithink Apple is going to have to put more thought into automated assembly provisions in their designs in the future.
Apple would rather be in the news for not meeting demand than be in the news for selling more units on launch day than any other gadget in history?
Oh wait, you're right. The iPhone also brought down the Twin Towers and caused the gulf oil spill too. Shhh.
As for automated assembly. Do you know how they assemble the iPhone? Or you just making things up because you're emotional. Hint, watch the iPhone 4 videos and then come back and tell us with a straight face that the manufacturing isn't automated enough.
Edit: Here's the link:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/design/#design-video
Skip to 2:20
Now what were you saying about automated assembly? Apple didn't put thought into automated assembly?
I guess few people wants the EVO 4G. After all, the buzz was that it will be the iPhone killer. Well, the pundits are wrong once again. The only smartphone to outsell an iPhone model will be another iPhone.
"iPhone, the smarter phone!". This should be the new Apple trademark.
Can't wait to get mine.
I wouldn't care too much about things like that. The media wants to create these kind of storylines to make things seem interesting.
The only people who aren't buying iPhones are:
-people who can't stand AT&T or actually like their carrier
-anti-Apple folk
-those who get free smartphones with a contract
Oh, how right you are.
That is a lie too, they were recently outed by an employee that posted internal information (and was fired for it) that stated only 64K EVOs were actually sold in that 3 day span.
It should only take them a month to build 3MM devices, possibly less. With the ramp expectations, and the likely reality that they only want half the units to be delivered (so store crowds are in the news), it still seems like there are a whole lot of missing units.
Ithink Apple is going to have to put more thought into automated assembly provisions in their designs in the future.
Um missing? How about the other 5 countries it launched in as well, that 600,000 number is US only.
Man people think before you jump.
My guess is yes.
The next disaster will be activation day, June 24. I will be patient, especially since I slipped my order in at 8PM EDT yesterday and scored a home-delivered iPhone for June 24. I have no problem activating my phone a day or two later since my 3GS will likely get a firmware upgrade to iOS4 in that time (maybe).