Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 04:10 pm

AT&T: iPhone 4 preorders arrive this week, more available June 29

By AppleInsider Staff

AT&T announced Wednesday that customers who preordered the iPhone 4 on June 15, both for in-store pickup and home or business delivery, should receive their handsets this week, while new orders will be offered first come, first served starting June 29.

"AT&T is on-track to deliver iPhone 4 to customers who preordered the device on June 15," the company said in a press release. "We look forward to offering iPhone 4 to all other customers beginning Tuesday, June 29, when it goes on sale in all AT&T sales channels."

The exclusive wireless carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. said it will post a series of videos beginning this week on its official Facebook page, facebook.com/att. The videos will offer customers tips and instructions regarding order fulfillment, iPhone 4 activation, inventory, and information on the new MicroSIM found in the iPhone 4.

The company also provided a series of guidelines to help those buying an iPhone through AT&T:

• Preordered for home or business delivery: iPhone 4 will begin arriving this week for customers who preordered. We'll send an email when each order has shipped.
  
  
• Preordered for store delivery: AT&T retail representatives will begin calling customers this week to let them know their iPhone 4 is available for pick up in store.
  
  
• Retail purchase (no preorder): AT&T plans to have iPhone 4 inventory - available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last - on June 29 in its retail locations, at www.att.com, and in business sales channels. As inventory sells out, AT&T will offer the convenient option of purchasing iPhone 4 and having it delivered to a home or business or an AT&T store. As always, customers will receive an email once their order is placed, and again when it ships.

AT&T was forced to suspend preorders for the iPhone 4 on June 16, a day after it began accepting them. The wireless carrier said demand for the new handset was ten times greater than that for the iPhone 3GS a year before.

The company completely sold out of the iPhone 4 in its first day of availability. AT&T said June 15 was its busiest online sales day in history.

The company's verification servers for existing customers were jammed for hours, leaving many customers unable to preorder the iPhone 4. Apple, too, had to temporarily reject callers from its 800 number due to demand.

On June 16, Apple changed the shipping date on its website for new iPhone 4 orders to three weeks after the handset's June 24 launch. Orders for both the 16GB and 32GB models are scheduled to ship by July 14.