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Bammeh

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 19, 2010
99
0
EVERY AT&T and Apple Store near me is sold out.
And Best Buy.

It's sad.

Has there been any announcement/speculation as to when it will be easiest to walk-in and grab a phone?
 
I'm with you. My local store has been completely out of AT&T phones for a few days. Give it a few more weeks, I'd say. I would think that holiday supply won't be a problem, but for now they're still playing catch up.
 
I'm with you. My local store has been completely out of AT&T phones for a few days. Give it a few more weeks, I'd say. I would think that holiday supply won't be a problem, but for now they're still playing catch up.

I was going to go ahead and order it through Apple and wait the 1-2 weeks. :p Maybe theyll get stock then, and ship it faster?
 
I feel fairly confident that they'll be available (in quantity) as soon as they announce the iPhone 5 sometime next year.

Otherwise, with the big push still going on and the 4S still not yet available in all countries, it'll probably be another month or two before they're (relatively) easy to find.... although Christmas might cause more problems pushing availability to early next year.
 
Went in to the store today. iP4S models were readily available in both colors.

I guess it's a store by store basis. The store in my area (Towson) has the most traffic in the state (Maryland) so I have no idea why they're not getting regular shipments. The other locations in the state seem to be doing alright, but I don't want to drive 20+ miles when the Towson store is 1.6 miles away from me :rolleyes:

As a side note, I think it's ridiculous that no one at the stores know what/when they'll get shipments. That's an absurd way to run a retail store, IMO.
 
I've checked pretty soon after 9pm the past few nights online for all the Chicago area stores...all sold out of basically everything (occasionally a 32 or 64 GB on one carrier is available)
 
I feel fairly confident that they'll be available (in quantity) as soon as they announce the iPhone 5 sometime next year.

Otherwise, with the big push still going on and the 4S still not yet available in all countries, it'll probably be another month or two before they're (relatively) easy to find.... although Christmas might cause more problems pushing availability to early next year.

...with this being said, I think I'll go ahead and order mine online sometime this week lol.

I just don't know if I want to get the iPhone 4S...if an iPhone 5 is coming soon. But what other differences could there really be?
 
I just don't know if I want to get the iPhone 4S...if an iPhone 5 is coming soon.

Define "soon."

Apple releases a new iPhone every 12-16 months... so it's safe to expect a new one sometime next October. If that's too soon for you, then you'll likely find yourself constantly waiting for the next big thing... that will always be just another year away.
 
Define "soon."

Apple releases a new iPhone every 12-16 months... so it's safe to expect a new one sometime next October. If that's too soon for you, then you'll likely find yourself constantly waiting for the next big thing... that will always be just another year away.

All the mumbo jumbo talk worries me. I'm just going to get the new iPhone 4S, because by the time the next one comes out, my other line will be available for an upgrade!

It's just a matter of finding a store with stock available...
 
One store had 10 iPhones. ( the mobile department told me this)


1 hour later: 0. ( the front desk told me this)
So, idk if the front desk didnt know what she was talking about.


Called another and they had one. They should still have it in the morning as the store had it right before closing.
 
I don't understand how ANY stores have them in stock when there are people who ordered weeks ago that still don't have the phones. Preorders still haven't been fulfilled. Why stock shelves when orders remain ignored? This doesn't make any sense to me. But then again, im not worth billions of dollars so they must be doing something right.
 
there were people lined up outside king of prussia apple store tonight. guess they are still getting them. all at&t stores are sold out... said they haven't received more since launch. wish apple stores would share since i have to go through at&t cause my eligibility date got screwed up.
 
Allocating shipments is a very difficult thing to manage, even when you have lots of cash... They can only ship about 250,000 phones a day worldwide and demand is exceeding that.

Some portion of this is allocated to website orders, some committed to each carrier based on their contracts, some for the retail channel, etc,

This mix management goes on in each country where the phone has been released to keep up sales interest and momentum.
 
I'm still waiting for mine at Sprint. I purchased a $50 Gift Card to get my name on the list at Sprint. I'm going into my 3rd. week now waiting for a Black 32GB 4S. Last week, I was offered a 16GB Black 4S and a 32GB White 4S, this being my first iPhone, I really want it in Black. I was so close to getting the 16GB, simply to settle, and I'm glad I declined.
 
Tonight was my first try at the 9pm reservation. One store didn't get any new ones opening up on any carrier. The other store had only 32GB for AT&T, 32 and 64 for sprint, and verizon had 32 and 64 and i guess a few 16GB white iphones but those went pretty fast.

I just don't get how they couldn't have foreseen that most people will be wanting the 16GB models. They should see from past years that there's generally a higher demand for the lower models, so you would think they stock those a bit more in the initial supply.

I'll be trying the reservation system every night from here on out as i'm finally upgrade eligible. As well as occasionally calling a store to see if they have any for walk in customers right before i get off work. I'm sure they'll get to know me really well in my 2 local stores :rolleyes:
 
Not for a while..And you have to remember almost every other week the iPhone gets released in a new country. I think they are almost at full launch. So what they do have sparse is not really being sent to the u.s from my understanding. And this sucks because I need a replacement from apple.
 
Not for a while..And you have to remember almost every other week the iPhone gets released in a new country. I think they are almost at full launch. So what they do have sparse is not really being sent to the u.s from my understanding. And this sucks because I need a replacement from apple.

Like he said, Apple is releasing the iPhone in other countries so inventory is constantly gonna be limited. My advice is just to order it online and it'll eventually ship to you in 1-2 weeks. Maybe you'll have luck like me. I ordered mine on the Oct 28th and my phone is scheduled to be delivered on the 4th :) I'm surprised that I'm receiving it already since soo many people have ordered days before me and their 4S' have yet to ship.
 
EVERY AT&T and Apple Store near me is sold out.
And Best Buy.

It's sad.

Has there been any announcement/speculation as to when it will be easiest to walk-in and grab a phone?

More countries being added every couple of weeks, plus the holiday season. There will not be walk-in plentiful quantities until sometime in 2012. If you want one, order it.
 
Here in Tennessee the local Best Buy had plenty in stock and if you have a Sams Club in your state they also have plenty of the Verizon model. I went there last week and got mine and she said they had gotten 60 in and had sold 40.
 
Here in Tennessee the local Best Buy had plenty in stock and if you have a Sams Club in your state they also have plenty of the Verizon model. I went there last week and got mine and she said they had gotten 60 in and had sold 40.

Sure, you can get Verizon models anywhere. There's a reason for that; the Verizon model is the least desired. If you have good AT&T signal where you live (which applies to 97% of the population), you'll get faster data and simultaneous voice/data on AT&T for cheaper than Verizon. Sprint has a true competitive advantage with their "Unlimited data" option so there is somewhat more demand there, but still a lot of Sprint phones available too other than 16GB models. Naturally people who are drawn to a cheaper plan are buying the cheapest phone.

The few (statistically speaking) people who have poor AT&T coverage and good Verizon coverage are the primary market for Verizon phones, and that's not many people in the great scheme of things. That's why the phones are sitting on shelves.
 
I have a friend who is an exec with Verizon. He's been candid about the tepid sales which explains why in many geographical areas there are heavy inventories. Of course they're not going to let on to customers, but first the iP4, and now the iP4S have not sold in the quantities Verizon had hoped. I'm left with the distinct impression they're selling well, but not as briskly as the AT&T models.

The one distinct advantage they have over Sprint, is the fact that Verizon is much more profitable, not to mention the obvious. Being so much larger than Sprint, and having a huge selection of phones, they'll do fine no matter what their 4S sales are like.
 
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