So for starters, let me say that I am an avid fan of Apple products and feel that they are a very successful and strong company. But lately with this iPhone 3G launch, I have been having concerns.
I currently live in the US in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and our city is a pretty nice size. We have a nice size technical underbelly due to local colleges such as Carnegie Mellon University. So the demand for a product such as the iPhone is definitely there.
So onto what this is all about, I am really concerned with the way that Apple has been handling the launch of their new product. It really seems like the launch, in my opinion, was unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful for these reasons:
1. I feel that Apple had to give in and make the decision to try and deter the jailbreak/unlock crowd by having all customers register their phone in the store. Not only was this a huge problem with the fact that it took too long, but the server during the launch could not handle the load. Also, due to the fact that people who was not entering a traditional contract with AT&T, they could not buy a phone, and then take it to AT&T to register it.
2. AT&T stock shortages. I realize that this is an Apple product, so they wanted to keep stocks in their stores. I also realize that this phone was launched in 22 countries so that is a pretty tall order to fill. But its not like there was not ample time to prepare for this launch. I feel that there would be numbers and sales reports from the previous launch to get a good feel to what type of stocks they need to provide to stores.
There are stores here in Pittsburgh that had only gotten 30 phones. Considering that there were people waiting in line before the store opened and businesses that were trying to get this product, this number was extremely low. It also seems that AT&T has now had to take a stand and take fulfillment orders. Is the stock either that low? Or is it just a high demand?
How is Apple going to handle selling the phone in a month in another 20something countries
3. Why is it so difficult to find an accurate measure of how many phones are in stock at Apple and AT&T stores? Do they not realize that if they were to just provide accurate stock orders on a website the companies would save alot of time and money not having employees answering phones nonstop. Now I know that Apple provides their "Nightly" stock availability, but It is never accurate, and you always call the store before you head down anyways. AT&T has nothing of the sort, so atleast Apple has something.
4. (unrelated) Seems that mobileME didnt launch all that well either. Maybe it was too much trying to launch at once?
Overall I just really think it could have gone a little bit better. Maybe they could have given a priority to current phone subscribers or possibly dont roll out too many countries all at once. I know neither of these ideas are good at all, but its all I got.
By all means I totally agree that the iPhone is years ahead of the cellphone market. I still dont have my phone and is currently riding the fulfillment ride. Is anyone currently on the same page as me? Anyone feel the same? Or am I just ranting? Thoughts?
I currently live in the US in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and our city is a pretty nice size. We have a nice size technical underbelly due to local colleges such as Carnegie Mellon University. So the demand for a product such as the iPhone is definitely there.
So onto what this is all about, I am really concerned with the way that Apple has been handling the launch of their new product. It really seems like the launch, in my opinion, was unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful for these reasons:
1. I feel that Apple had to give in and make the decision to try and deter the jailbreak/unlock crowd by having all customers register their phone in the store. Not only was this a huge problem with the fact that it took too long, but the server during the launch could not handle the load. Also, due to the fact that people who was not entering a traditional contract with AT&T, they could not buy a phone, and then take it to AT&T to register it.
2. AT&T stock shortages. I realize that this is an Apple product, so they wanted to keep stocks in their stores. I also realize that this phone was launched in 22 countries so that is a pretty tall order to fill. But its not like there was not ample time to prepare for this launch. I feel that there would be numbers and sales reports from the previous launch to get a good feel to what type of stocks they need to provide to stores.
There are stores here in Pittsburgh that had only gotten 30 phones. Considering that there were people waiting in line before the store opened and businesses that were trying to get this product, this number was extremely low. It also seems that AT&T has now had to take a stand and take fulfillment orders. Is the stock either that low? Or is it just a high demand?
How is Apple going to handle selling the phone in a month in another 20something countries
3. Why is it so difficult to find an accurate measure of how many phones are in stock at Apple and AT&T stores? Do they not realize that if they were to just provide accurate stock orders on a website the companies would save alot of time and money not having employees answering phones nonstop. Now I know that Apple provides their "Nightly" stock availability, but It is never accurate, and you always call the store before you head down anyways. AT&T has nothing of the sort, so atleast Apple has something.
4. (unrelated) Seems that mobileME didnt launch all that well either. Maybe it was too much trying to launch at once?
Overall I just really think it could have gone a little bit better. Maybe they could have given a priority to current phone subscribers or possibly dont roll out too many countries all at once. I know neither of these ideas are good at all, but its all I got.
By all means I totally agree that the iPhone is years ahead of the cellphone market. I still dont have my phone and is currently riding the fulfillment ride. Is anyone currently on the same page as me? Anyone feel the same? Or am I just ranting? Thoughts?
