iPhone 3G Shortage to Last a Month?

[evillageprowler]

I almost bought an iphone 3G this weekend

It was my birthday yesterday (Sat, 19th). My wife had told me a few days ago that I should get the iphone. I was on the fence which phone to get: iphone or the Nokia N95 8G. This would be my first smart phone.

Anyway, I drove to the mall (Menlo Park, Edison, NJ) as it opened. I wanted to check out the new iphone. Too bad the Apple Store there as well as the ATT store both were out of stock. I walked around a bit, went back to the Apple Store and saw the store manager (who knows me from past conversations). He told me that they just got a shipment in. Too bad for me because I have a corporate discount on my plan.

I guess I'll have to pursue the direct fulfillment route through an ATT store...

EVP

 

[DMann]

It was my birthday yesterday (Sat, 19th). My wife had told me a few days ago that I should get the iphone. I was on the fence which phone to get: iphone or the Nokia N95 8G. This would be my first smart phone.

Anyway, I drove to the mall (Menlo Park, Edison, NJ) as it opened. I wanted to check out the new iphone. Too bad the Apple Store there as well as the ATT store both were out of stock. I walked around a bit, went back to the Apple Store and saw the store manager (who knows me from past conversations). He told me that they just got a shipment in. Too bad for me because I have a corporate discount on my plan.

I guess I'll have to pursue the direct fulfillment route through an ATT store...

EVP

Happy Birthday! This is great news about the shipment to Menlo Park - I'll pass it on to friends who have been waiting.

Cheers!

 

[Los Royers]

iPhone online stock checker

I don't understand how Apple calculates the stock of iphones. I looked at the website last night and all stores in california showed as being out of stock. In fact almost every store in every state showed as no stock. I thought yeak ok no stock makes sense tomorrow is sunday no shipments, so nothing new till monday. So today I am at the Brea mall and I go to the apple store and there is a line for phones. They have phones and this was around 2 pm so they have had enough phones to last at least till 2 pm. So what is up with the website saying they have no stock? I don't get it. I think if you are looking for a phone just go to your local store and wait regardless of what that thing says.

 

[mautal]

there must be a better way to find out if there are any iphones...

I don't understand how Apple calculates the stock of iphones. I looked at the website last night and all stores in california showed as being out of stock. In fact almost every store in every state showed as no stock. I thought yeak ok no stock makes sense tomorrow is sunday no shipments, so nothing new till monday. So today I am at the Brea mall and I go to the apple store and there is a line for phones. They have phones and this was around 2 pm so they have had enough phones to last at least till 2 pm. So what is up with the website saying they have no stock? I don't get it. I think if you are looking for a phone just go to your local store and wait regardless of what that thing says.

I do agree with you on this one. I checked availability for the Pasadena Apple store and it showed no stock, but a buddy of mine told me there was a line outside the apple store... Unless the Apple TV's are all the rage these days, I'm thinking its a line for iphones... Hmmm, I wish there was a more accurate way for us to find out when there will be some phones in stock... Pasadena Apple store is only 30 minutes away from me, and I'm sure there are more unfortunate souls who would have to drive an hour + to get to an apple store...

 

[Koolfunstuff]

Insulting wording on APPLE.COM

I've just learned about the iphone shortage ... checked the Apple.com website tonight and found only 3 stores nationwide to have any kind of stock ... I'm already pissed I can't get an iphone but now I'm insulted by Apple for having the following wording on the availability page ... "The Apple Retail Store likely has your iPhone 3G in stock." Come on guys ... it's one thing to not have your act together with supplies, but do you have to flat out insult everyone on your web page as well? That new Sprint phone is looking pretty good these days!!! Or should I just wait for the google phone now??

 

[charlituna]

how does Apple get rid of the lines?

Apple is in a lose-lose on that issue.

if they cut the in-store activation of accounts and go back to last years system, folks will just buy them and then not sign up for the account, just like last year

ATT wants new subscribers so they wouldn't likely agree with the whole "put their credit card on file and charge them the termination fee if they don't start an account by a set date" idea. plus who knows, that kind of thing might be illegal in some states.

If Apple devotes all their peoplepower to the phones until the lines are totally gone that means that for up to a week there's no classes, no tech support, no computer sales. all those folks would be pissed. same probably if they devoted the bulk of their people

going to shop by appointment doesn't really work either because they can't guarantee how long each one will take. yes some will be 10 minutes, but others will be over an hour cause of various issues. and not all of the possible issues are ATT and Apple issues. so the poor guy with the next appointment is hosed.

 

[LoganT]

Apple is in a lose-lose on that issue.

if they cut the in-store activation of accounts and go back to last years system, folks will just buy them and then not sign up for the account, just like last year

ATT wants new subscribers so they wouldn't likely agree with the whole "put their credit card on file and charge them the termination fee if they don't start an account by a set date" idea. plus who knows, that kind of thing might be illegal in some states.

If Apple devotes all their peoplepower to the phones until the lines are totally gone that means that for up to a week there's no classes, no tech support, no computer sales. all those folks would be pissed. same probably if they devoted the bulk of their people

going to shop by appointment doesn't really work either because they can't guarantee how long each one will take. yes some will be 10 minutes, but others will be over an hour cause of various issues. and not all of the possible issues are ATT and Apple issues. so the poor guy with the next appointment is hosed.

You know there is a way to force people into a contract online. AT&T does it with all of their other phones.

 

[charlituna]

but now I'm insulted by Apple for having the following wording on the availability page ... "The Apple Retail Store likely has your iPhone 3G in stock." Come on guys ... it's one thing to not have your act together with supplies, but do you have to flat out insult everyone on your web page as well?

take a breath.

it is NOT an insult. it is a concession to the fact that some of the phones reporting as 'in stock' might not be. they could have been (I learned for a guy at the store across the walk from my job) phones that had errors and were temporarily 'burned out' that hadn't been taken out of stock. they could have been (I also learned) phones that were on hold until the doors closed so a customer that had made it into the store could work out some issue that was preventing activation. so they are basically ghosts.

or they could just be flat out computer errors. a lot of inventory posting software does so by whole shipment. so if the shipment thinks they were 100 black 16gig phones it will report that when the shipment number is entered, but maybe there were really only 60 and the inventory guy is tracking the missing box(s) but he can't correct the error in the system so there are ghost phones.

the 'likely' is so that you would hopefully think to call and check before you drive to a store and stand in line for hours when it was pointless.

 

[PanamaYellow]

Adventures in iPhone

Adventures in iPhone, Episode One
Friday, July 18

No iPhone yet, there're still long lines and the stores go in and out of stock on a daily basis. Apple's got a web page where one can see the stock situation for the stores in a given state - but only after 9pm, for the next day. When that thing shows steady stock for a couple of days, I'll make my run.

On Wednesday (the 16th), I thought "I'll just cruise by the Apple store over here and have a look at a floor demo phone". "Poke at it, compare the black and white models, play around". "The only problem", I thought, "might be in too many other people doing just the same thing."

So I get off work, drive over (being a native Californian and so not allowed to walk anywhere), park in the structure and saunter down toward the store. Now, I've enough respect for Murphy’s law to have called just before leaving to confirm that the store was out of stock (hence no line outside). "Yup", says the store person, "no phones here". "Nope, no phones. Nossir."

What do I find as I saunter?

A line.

A long line.

Security guards, giddy iPhone fans, a store employee (bright, young, cheerful) front and center in the entrance to the store - flanked by two Apple-bouncers. I kid you not. Great big guys, very clean-cut, friendly neutral expressions, (large) arms folded across their chests, watching me walk past the line's front to approach.

I say to the employee that I am not here to buy a phone, but to do other shopping (best to not connect myself at all with the word phone). She smiles and politely refers me to the line on the other side of the entrance. *That's* where you stand to just shop in the store. She helpfully guesses for me that the "shopping" line is about twenty minutes long.

You need to stand in line to go into the store at all.

I demure, and away, bemused.



Adeventure in iPhone, Episode Two
Tuesday, July 21

So I cruised by the Emeryville Apple store yesterday after work. A line of about 50.

Over the weekend I'd read online about the trouble people were having figuring out when a given store had stock. You'll remember the results of my phone call to the Emeryville store - an unexpected long line and a 20 minute wait to get into the store at all.

Saturday (the 19th) we stopped into our "local" ATT store (well, only 1/2 hour away - we being country people and all) and I fondled the demo phones. Then off to shopping (Mama needs new shoes {seemingly always - "I've been shopping all my life and I don't have a *thing* to wear” says she} ).

On our drive back home, we stop in again and I order a phone. 16gb, of course, and I'll let you guess the color. It's better worked out at ATT than at Apple. They swipe your credit card, placing the order, which then ships directly to the store. The store calls you and you go pick it up. Rather better than the uncertainties and hassle of the Apple store experience, seems to me.

The lady who helped us also got us past some misunderstandings about the plans needed for the iPhone. Online and at Apple it seems as if only a few plans can have the iPhone added to them. Not so. We're keeping our present plan (with its 200 free minutes/month) and only adding a data plan for the new phone. The data is $30, just like herself’s HTC Tilt. The lady also noticed that herself hasn't been using the SMS messages that we've been paying for and suggested removing that from the account. ( ! )

In summary, adding the iPhone is going to cost us $20/month more than we pay now. Done.

The nice lady told us the company-line "10-21 days for delivery", with a facial expression just this side of a wink. The phone shipped yesterday, arrives in-store today, I pick it up Friday on my way home.


Fade To Black, The End.

 

[yehudah72]

there's no shortage where i live!!!

i live in san diego, ca. and the apple store down the street from me (UTC Mall) has iPhones every day. i got mine the Sunday when it first launch and i only waited in line for 40 minutes.

 

[jlbrown23]

I don't understand how Apple calculates the stock of iphones. I looked at the website last night and all stores in california showed as being out of stock. In fact almost every store in every state showed as no stock. I thought yeak ok no stock makes sense tomorrow is sunday no shipments, so nothing new till monday. So today I am at the Brea mall and I go to the apple store and there is a line for phones. They have phones and this was around 2 pm so they have had enough phones to last at least till 2 pm. So what is up with the website saying they have no stock? I don't get it. I think if you are looking for a phone just go to your local store and wait regardless of what that thing says.

What is odd to me is that I can go on just about any other retailers web site and check up to the minute stock on any item. Borders, Best Buy, Target. What gives with Apple's "after 9PM" nonsense? I am anxious to get an iPhone, but a 50 minute round trip isn't worth it just to check and hope that by the time I get there they haven't sold out. I'm not going to complain too loudly - it's not like they're withholding food and water from me(it's only a PHONE), so I can certainly wait a week or a month. But you wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal to keep real time inventory for people. If Circuit City can do it, how hard can it be?

I will complain about the in-store activation. Putting people who play by the rules through that just to stop a few "cheaters" is exactly the sort of thing M$ does to its customers(and why so many of us prefer Apple). The cheaters will just find a new way to cheat, and all the folks who just want a phone have to stand in line for 2 hours when they could do it just as easily at home(like all other AT&T customers). AT&T and Apple squeeze every last penny out because they worry about a few cheaters, yet they don't give any value to their honest customers time that they are wasting.

 

[charlituna]

What is odd to me is that I can go on just about any other retailers web site and check up to the minute stock on any item. Borders, Best Buy, Target.

that is stock for the website. not for the stores. trust me, I worked for Borders and at no time did we ever claim that our in house system, much less the website, was up to the minute accurate on stock.

but a 50 minute round trip isn't worth it just to check and hope that by the time I get there they haven't sold out.

it's called making a phone call.

I will complain about the in-store activation. Putting people who play by the rules through that just to stop a few "cheaters"

it wasn't just 'a few'. more like a few hundred.

and remember that Apple doesn't control everything in this game. ATT does also. they are likely the ones that forced Apple to help enforce the service agreement and thus do instore activation.

when they could do it just as easily at home(like all other AT&T customers). AT&T and Apple squeeze every last penny out because they worry about a few cheaters, yet they don't give any value to their honest customers time that they are wasting.

from what I have heard, it might not be that easy to just go home and do it. for many folks there were issues on the account that made having someone handle ATT's support services for you much easier. plus what if you stand in line for an hour or two, grab your phone, go home and you got a bad phone. now you have to drive back to the store, wait for a genius to check it out and authorize a swap etc. at least if you did it at the store, you'd know when you left that you have a working phone.

 

[kdarling]

and remember that Apple doesn't control everything in this game. ATT does also. they are likely the ones that forced Apple to help enforce the service agreement and thus do instore activation.

Why would ATT want in-store activation? It's just more work for them.

As long as they have a contract, then they're covered for the subsidy, and could care less if you ever used the device or just threw it away.

Their other phones don't need activation. You just throw in the SIM and go.

It's Apple who has the desire for everyone to sign up with iTunes. And it was Apple servers alone that screwed up.

 

[charlituna]

Why would ATT want in-store activation? It's just more work for them.

many of those stores are Apple stores and if there are no errors it's all handled by computers. so no more work for ATT than before.

As long as they have a contract, then they're covered for the subsidy, and could care less if you ever used the device or just threw it away.

which still means in store work because you'd have to get a signature and a credit card for the subsidy.

but then look at the math. which is ATT going to want. a, let's say, $500 penalty for not signing up for a contract or the $1700 that the lowest contract will earn for them. easy answer.

And it was Apple servers alone that screwed up.

so you work for ATT and you know that their servers were flawless.

 

[cheekybobcat]

Or just wait a month and then walk in and out with no hassles.

Are you honestly telling a forum full of Apple "enthusiasts" to put it easily to wait for one of the most anticipated product Apple has had (thus far)? Psh.

 

[themint]

Iphone3G shortage UK

cant get an Iphone 16gB in leeds at all , 8gB models are in stock only?why

 

[themint]

Iphone3G shortage UK

cant get an Iphone 16gB in leeds at all , 8gB models are in stock only?why

 

[GRN99EX]

My Story

I have 3 Apple Stores within a 30 minute driving radius (Cherry Hill, NJ/Marlton, NJ/Christianna Mall, DE), and none of them were showing any available phones in stock on July 18th. I had to drive to VA to get my son for the weekend, and saw that the Towson, MD store had them in stock. We dropped by that store at 11AM, and there were about 150 people in line. We decided not to wait around, and left to drive back to NJ.

My son was having a problem with his iPod, so I had made a Genius Bar appt at the Christianna Mall store, to get it fixed. When we got there, they had a line for the iPhone Queue as well. I asked the girl at the door if they had the phones in stock, because the website said they didn't. She told me they had just received a shipment of white and black 16GB phones.

We got the iPod taken care of, and I decided to stand in line. When they went down the line to take a tally of who wanted what phone, and how many, I noticed that only 3 people had requested a white 16GB phone. I added myself to that column, and walked out with a with 16GB iPhone (in a black Agent 18 Eco-Case) 30 minutes later.

Moral of the story:
If Apple is only updating inventories after 9 PM, and a shipment from UPS/FEDEX comes in at 11:00 AM, they are gone before the availability site is updated. Either go to the store, of give them a call right after they open. That is really the only way you are going to get your hands on one.

 

[bradneal]

...Either go to the store, of give them a call right after they open. That is really the only way you are going to get your hands on one.

Or just order one from the att store.

I ordered mine on the 15th and I am picking it up today - no lines, no guessing.

 

[73CortinaV8]

most CA stores were showing stock last night.

though there was still a big line at the sf store yesterday

 

[BOSS10L]

Moral of the story:
If Apple is only updating inventories after 9 PM, and a shipment from UPS/FEDEX comes in at 11:00 AM, they are gone before the availability site is updated. Either go to the store, of give them a call right after they open. That is really the only way you are going to get your hands on one.

Bingo. This is what I did. I knew my wife's RAZR was going out (it had been acting funky for a few days) and I was slowly working her into the idea of taking over my 1st Generation iPhone while I upgraded to 3G. Saturday morning we were sitting down watching TV at about 9-9:15 and I out of the blue decided to call our local Apple Store (Eastview Mall - Victor NY). I was fully ready for them to give me the company line of "We don't have any, check the website after 9 tonight", but he told me that they did indeed have some in stock.

I must have had ESP, because within minutes of me getting there and starting the purchasing process, about 10 people started lining up for their shot at purchasing one. Based on what I had seen of people purchasing before me and while I was doing my transaction (here's the story: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/531908/), just about everyone wants a black 8GB one. That is fine by me, I wanted 16GB and white, so it worked out great.

 

[manhattanboy]

Or just order one from the att store.

I ordered mine on the 15th and I am picking it up today - no lines, no guessing.

The line from my local ATT "You can have a 8gb black one in 2-3 weeks"

Thanks but no thanks. I think ATT is sold out for 1-2 weeks.
I agree there is no line if you can afford to wait....
The Apple stores in NYC have never really run out of stock its just that d*mn activation process that has forced them to limit the number of phones they can sell per day.

 

[emccus01]

I just picked up my black 16 gig. I ordered on July 12th a day after I sat in line to get the 8 gig on the 11th. The model number is higher than my other one so I'm assuming it was built after. So far so good!

P.S. this is outside of Philly and the guy at the ATT store said I was one of the lucky ones to get the black 16 gig in now. Others that ordered when I did are on back order.