AppleInsider Staff
The Apple Online Store changed its pre-order availability for all models of the iPhone 4S early Saturday. Apple had promised to begin taking advance orders for the device at 12:01 Pacific on Friday, but slight hiccups delayed sales for Apple and AT&T.
The company's other two wireless partners in the U.S., Verizon and Sprint, were able to begin pre-orders on time, though some customers reported having trouble completing orders from Apple and carriers alike.
AT&T announced later on Friday that it had received more than 200,000 pre-orders for the smartphone in just 12 hours, a record for the company.
Unveiled on Tuesday, the iPhone 4S features the same external design as the iPhone 4, but adds Siri voice control, a faster A5 processor, an 8-megapixel camera and a new antenna design. Though some have expressed disappointment that the handset did not receive a form factor refresh, Wall Street analysts remain confident that sales of the iPhone 4S will easily top previous records set by the iPhone 4.
Sprint noted on its website late Friday that it had completely sold out of pre-orders for the 16GB iPhone 4S, though, as of early Saturday, the 32GB and 64GB versions were still available for advance purchase. The carrier does, however, state that the 16GB model will be "available in stores on Oct. 14."
Verizon may also have sold out of its initial pre-order allowance of 16GB models. The carrier's website currently lists 16GB models of the iPhone 4S for Oct. 21 delivery. Also, some AppleInsider readers report that orders placed on the Verizon website at 12:01 a.m. on Friday are now estimating delivery on Oct. 21.
Though not a publicly disclosed practice, recent history and evidence supports the fact that Apple allots restricted amounts of devices for its partners to offer on pre-order and at launch.
According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, Sprint has basically "bet the company" on the iPhone and has agreed to purchase 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years.
This is the first iPhone launch in the U.S. where Apple has to manage multiple carrier relationships. The issue is also exacerbated by the fact that the iPhone 4S is a "global model" and the same model can work on both CDMA and GSM networks.
For those willing to wait, Apple will release a GSM-unlocked version of the iPhone 4S in November, with 16GB, 326GB and 64GB models selling for $649, $749 and $849, respectively. The company cautions, however, that the unlocked iPhone will not work with CDMA carriers such as Verizon and Sprint.
Apple has had trouble producing enough iPhone and iPad models to match pre-order and launch day demand in recent years. Even the Verizon iPhone 4, which launched 8 months after the GSM iPhone 4 arrived, sold out of pre-orders on the first day on offer.
William Gallagher
Marko Zivkovic
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Malcolm Owen
238 Comments
Apparently I was not the only one who bought one.
While we on the AI forums tend to think the average person doesn't really pay that much attention to technology, they obviously pay more attention than we sometimes give them credit for. I mean, it seems almost certain the average person isn't having arguments about the meaning of 4G, but they do follow technology enough to know:
1) there is a new iPhone,
2) the new iPhone is better than the old iPhone,
3) the new iPhone, despite what analysts say, is better enough that it's worth whatever hassle that particular person may undergo in order to obtain it under their contracts.
This must be true, since AT&T certainly isn't selling 200,000 iPhones on the average day and this record came about despite the aforementioned analysts downplaying the 4S.
Anyone else have trouble with their purchase setting off the fraud alert on their credit card. My order initially went through, but I received an "unable to charge provided card" email about an hour later. After waiting a few hours for AT&T customer service to open, and then another 45 minutes on hold, the nice lady tells me that she's received 33 calls in the last hour for the exact same thing, and it was in fact the bank denying the charges due to suspected fraudulent activity. A quick call to the bank straightened things out, but they couldn't explain to me why a 199 charge to Apple set off the fraud alert, when the several hundred dollars worth of airline tickets I purchased last week didn't. I guess the bank's computers must have shit themselves when they saw so many people spending money all at once on Apple, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.
Boohoo, this doesn't really mean much to me. I'm not impressed at all. I predict that the iPhone is going to not sell well, all of the evidence and facts points in that direction. I think that Apple probably only had a stock of 2,000 phones. As a matter of fact, I think that the iPhone 4S is going to end up on Woot in 7 weeks time. There definitely won't be any people lining up outside any Apple stores, waiting to get this phone. Any intelligent person surely has to agree with that.
I'm holding out for the 'Big Thing' coming soon. It's curved and it kind of reminds me of a deformed penis, so I'm gonna get me that. Yeah, that's the ticket. iOS is too elegant and simple for a big thinker like me. I like to spend at least 3.5 hours every day just changing out the wallpapers on my phone and moving widgets around. Don't laugh at me, and no I'm not gay, but I already bought a man purse to go along with my lovely ice cream sandwich phone that I'm getting soon.
Makes sense. For ~50% of iPhone owners it's a no-brainer upgrade (non-iPhone 4 owners) and some studies show about 89% of them want another iPhone. Most of them are eligible for a subsidized upgrade or can switch carriers.
I got my iPhone 4 a bit late (almost exactly 1yr ago) but I still went for the 4S because I was able to re-sell my iPhone 4 for $400. So it's a $50 upgrade for me (plus 2 year contract that I would have either way) and I'll just repeat it when the iPhone 5 comes out. If I get even $350 for the 4S next year the iPhone 5 will only cost me $200. Only downside if you do this is you gotta be pretty committed to your carrier because you're renewing your 2 year contract a year early each time.