AppleInsider StaffSome Cingular wireless stores have begun to capitalize on the excitement leading up to the release of Apple's iPhone, offering to add prospective buyers to an "iPhone notification list" if they provide a phone number and answer a few questions.
"I talked to a manager (possibly the owner) who took my name and number and said he would contact us the morning they get them in, which would allow the people on the list to get in line first," the report states. "He also asked if I was upgrading, switching, and a couple other service related questions."
The bloggers had also e-mailed their local Cingular store manager in advance of visiting the location and later received the following reply:
"Thanks for your email. We have a waiting list and we plan to contact the customers on the list when the iphone becomes available. If I can have your phone number I will get you added to the list and call you when we receive the iPhones. We look forward to having you as a customer soon!"
Since the iPhone's unveiling in January, Cingular (now AT&T) has received over a million inquiries from customers eager to snap up one of the Apple gadgets when they goes on sale in late June.
The excitement surrounding the iPhone also appears to be boosting interest in Cingular's wireless network amongst potential switchers, with a recent ChangeWave survey showing the wireless carrier to have surged ahead of rival Verizon Wireless in terms of consumer's future buying intentions.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
21 Comments
That's kind of a hokey list. I suppose they don't have a real reservation system in place or have some sort of policy limiting them from taking deposits. I think it's going to end badly. They could have 10 units come into the store and without a proper reservation system, they might very well call 50 people, leaving as many as 40 disappointed people that wouldn't have wasted their time or gas to pick up something that won't be there by the time they get around to it.
Seems to me that they're trying to determine who's actually interested in the device. This way, it takes some initiative (stop-in, call, e-mail) by the prospective buyer other than just providing their e-mail via cingular.com. I'm sure we'll hear about how many applicants Cingular received in a couple of weeks.
The news that they had received 'over a million inquiries' has been playing for so long I wonder why it isn't now 'over 2 or 3 million'?
The news that they had received 'over a million inquiries' has been playing for so long I wonder why it isn't now 'over 2 or 3 million'?
The one million announcement was less than a month ago. If it's linear, I wouldn't expect two million for a couple months yet. It could go either way, one million was just a burst, or one million on an accelerating increase.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Personally, I can't imagine someone wanting to commit in advance to the iPhone when all we know about it is Apple's advertising and a few very-limited demonstrations to reporters that were performed on a pre-release model with many features missing.
Until this device is released and some proper reviews can be written (or, at least the ability to try it out in the store), who would want to commit himself to a $600 item and a multi-year service commitment?