AT&T: iPhone 3GS Launch Broke Numerous Company Records

[MacRumors]

MacDailyNews has obtained an internal AT&T memo promoting the record-breaking nature of the iPhone 3GS launch on Friday, June 19th.

iLaunch day 2009 was one for the record books, as AT&T customers scrambled to get their hands on the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.

Here's a look at some of the milestones we achieved:

* Best-ever sales day in our retail stores
* Second-largest traffic day in our retail stores
* Most transactions processed via our IT systems in a single day
* Most upgrade eligibility checks in a single day
* Largest order day in att.com history
* Largest features sales day in att.com history

Furthermore, AT&T notes that it had surpassed the 2008 iPhone 3G launch sales numbers by noon on the iPhone 3GS launch day and sustained its record-setting sale pace for eleven straight hours.

Despite shorter lines on launch day than in 2008, due in large part to online availability, Apple announced that the iPhone 3GS had reached over one million sales in the first three days of availability, on par with the performance of the iPhone 3G at its 2008 launch.

Article Link: AT&T: iPhone 3GS Launch Broke Numerous Company Records

[theanman]

Maybe they will reward us by activating MMS soon

[ucsbalum96]

Originally Posted by theanman

Maybe they will reward us by activating MMS soon

Yeah...and tethering. Maybe if AT&T took a break from there sales spreadsheets they could take a moment to click the button that says "turn on iPhone MMS and tethering"...tomorrow?...didn't think so.

[mrtune]

Seems to me, with numbers like this, AT&T will for sure try and hold onto their exclusive agreement with Apple for as long as possible.

Seems like with every new iPhone released, there is greater and greater demand for the phone.

Come on AT&T, get the ball rolling for MMS!

[macduke]

Quit bragging and give me MMS!!

[Ambrose Chapel]

and the way att thanks those customers is by not supporting major new features of the phone. insulting.

[iphones4evry1]

That's wht happens when you have a monopoly...or,uh.."exclusivity" over the iPhone.

Originally Posted by Ambrose Chapel

and the way att thanks those customers is by not supporting major new features of the phone. insulting.

The way AT&T thanks their customers is by forcing them to buy $39.99 worth of voice minutes that most people never even use half of. I would rather pay a small fee for MMS and a small fee for tethering (if I choose to use those features), instead of being forced to buy voice minutes that I know I will never use.

-posted via iPhone

[johnnyrb]

have broken if they would have shown some love to their existing iPhone users. Also, I wonder how many existing iPhone customers paid $399 or $499 for a new iPhone 3GS.

I for one did not upgrade from a 3G to a 3GS and will not at that price. I understand why they did this. I'm going to wait and purchase the year 2010 model. Hopefully by then, AT&T's contract will have expired.

[gt1948]

Originally Posted by macduke

Quit bragging and give me MMS!!

it's right around the corner.....

[joro]

Originally Posted by mrtune

Seems to me, with numbers like this, AT&T will for sure try and hold onto their exclusive agreement with Apple for as long as possible.

Seems like with every new iPhone released, there is greater and greater demand for the phone.

Come on AT&T, get the ball rolling for MMS!

I agree, they are going to want to keep the exclusivity; however, I think Apple is going to require some major concessions and improvements to keep it with AT&T alone. That tension couldn’t have been more evident at WWDC this year and it will likely continue until AT&T can keep up with the countless other carriers who are waiting with baited breath on what Apple wants.

[leshkanyc]

How about:

• most network wide data outage day
• most drop calls day
• most missed calls str8 to voice mail day
• most ridiculous update day when newly released OS made current phones slower

or am i wrong?

[ratbatblue]

Maybe they'll sink some of that profit into their infrastructure.

Things are improving in my area. But they could always get better, and I know there are many places where 3G is either totally unavailable, or available only unreliably.

Good job, AT&T! Now show us you remember where all that $$$ comes from!

[BornAgainMac]

I wonder if their network can even handle real MMS usage coming from the iPhone customer base.

[iGary]

Originally Posted by BornAgainMac

I wonder if their network can even handle real MMS usage coming from the iPhone customer base.

Nice one.

So sad we got stuck with such a crap company.

[Ding.Dong]

* Most upgrade eligibility checks in a single day

They forgot one record:

* Most upgrade eligibility denials in a single day

[TheSlush]

Originally Posted by ratbatblue

Maybe they'll sink some of that profit into their infrastructure.

Or their customer service!

[uniforms]

My feelings are that it's a pure numbers game. Apple loves the money it gets from AT&T. But now that the numbers are slowing down as far as new subscribers of the iPhone, Apple will need to look for new avenues in which to get more people using the iPhone. That means Verizon. It's not what you did last year, it's the performance this year. Apple will need more subscribers if they want to be a major player. I think January we will see a new partner in addition to AT&T.

Apple still has the lead as far as quality, speed and applications. I think they will really be something in another few years, not that they are not already!

[coolbreeze]

ATT hit the freakin lottery when it got the iPhone contract. The lottery!!!

They will sh*t an eggroll when other carriers get access to the iPhone. Better enjoy the lavish profits while you can ATT. Tick tock...

[deckwalker]

Originally Posted by leshkanyc

How about:

• most ridiculous update day when newly released OS made current phones slower

or am i wrong?

My first gen is quite a bit quicker with the new OS; it starts faster, apps load faster, and the response when I'm typing notes or SMS is far far faster.

[kas23]

Originally Posted by deckwalker

My first gen is quite a bit quicker with the new OS; it starts faster, apps load faster, and the response when I'm typing notes or SMS is far far faster.

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the opposite. It was faster at first, but now my 3G is very laggy. Opening apps is slower, Safari is slower, and SMS takes a good 5 seconds to open. And when I type, my finger is a lot faster than the letters popping up on the screen. This shouldn't happen. Maybe 3.1 will fix this.

As for those AT&T numbers, they really don't mean anything. This is due to the pre-ordering, which likely all counted for the first day of sale. Last year, we couldn't do this and these sales spread out over the first week or so. What we really need are absolute numbers.

[crackermac]

Originally Posted by kas23

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the opposite. It was faster at first, but now my 3G is very laggy. Opening apps is slower, Safari is slower, and SMS takes a good 5 seconds to open. And when I type, my finer is a lot faster than the letters popping up on the screen. This shouldn't happen. Maybe 3.1 will fix this.

+1 I hope an update is coming soon to fix this.

[OrganMusic]

So I was looking at smart phones at a Verizon store today, saying how I really wished I could have the iphone and a VZ agent ACTUALLY TOLD ME they were getting the iPhone in January.

Which I of course will believe it when I see it. On the other hand I can't believe an agent would have said that even if it were true. I didn't press her on it too hard though

[TheSlush]

Can we say "APPLE NEGOTIATING ADVANTAGE"???