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More UK Launch News: Very High Demand

L

Locker

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 22, 2007
291
0
Staffordshire, UK
I went into my local O2 store today and basically asked what I needed to do in order to get an iPhone next Friday (11th). He basically said "Turn up early and hope you get one" - apparently they don't have any information at all on what models they'll have in or how many they will receive. He also didn't know what time the store was opening, and advised me to ring back the day before to see if they had the information. He said Apple are being very "low-key" prior to the release.

He went on to say that they were getting a special checkout system organised to cope with the throughput and that they'd have barriers outside - bear in mind that this certainly isn't a major branch I'm talking about. He seemed to expect that they'd sell out very quickly.

He also revealed that they originally planned to have a pre-ordering system going but couldn't due to demand. He said the online registering of interest system was taken off-line due to over 200,000 people signing up to it.

Also, he seemed to be aware of the online coverage of this. He said something along the lines of "we can't say much anyway because you guys tell the press and then we get the sack" - did I really give off that fan-boy look?

He was a nice guy though - genuine and just recommended I got there early to have the best chance of securing one. He plans on getting one too, an admirer of the device I think!
 
Locker said:
I went into my local O2 store today and basically asked what I needed to do in order to get an iPhone next Friday (11th). He basically said "Turn up early and hope you get one" - apparently they don't have any information at all on what models they'll have in or how many they will receive. He also didn't know what time the store was opening, and advised me to ring back the day before to see if they had the information. He said Apple are being very "low-key" prior to the release.

He went on to say that they were getting a special checkout system organised to cope with the throughput and that they'd have barriers outside - bear in mind that this certainly isn't a major branch I'm talking about. He seemed to expect that they'd sell out very quickly.

He also revealed that they originally planned to have a pre-ordering system going but couldn't due to demand. He said the online registering of interest system was taken off-line due to over 200,000 people signing up to it.

Also, he seemed to be aware of the online coverage of this. He said something along the lines of "we can't say much anyway because you guys tell the press and then we get the sack" - did I really give off that fan-boy look?

He was a nice guy though - genuine and just recommended I got there early to have the best chance of securing one. He plans on getting one too, an admirer of the device I think!
Click to expand...


God I hope Apple is prepared for this world wide demand
 
Locker said:
I went into my local O2 store today and basically asked what I needed to do in order to get an iPhone next Friday (11th). He basically said "Turn up early and hope you get one" - apparently they don't have any information at all on what models they'll have in or how many they will receive. He also didn't know what time the store was opening, and advised me to ring back the day before to see if they had the information. He said Apple are being very "low-key" prior to the release.

He went on to say that they were getting a special checkout system organised to cope with the throughput and that they'd have barriers outside - bear in mind that this certainly isn't a major branch I'm talking about. He seemed to expect that they'd sell out very quickly.

He also revealed that they originally planned to have a pre-ordering system going but couldn't due to demand. He said the online registering of interest system was taken off-line due to over 200,000 people signing up to it.

Also, he seemed to be aware of the online coverage of this. He said something along the lines of "we can't say much anyway because you guys tell the press and then we get the sack" - did I really give off that fan-boy look?

He was a nice guy though - genuine and just recommended I got there early to have the best chance of securing one. He plans on getting one too, an admirer of the device I think!
Click to expand...

So the 'very high demand' label is based on the fact they don't know anything.

Yes they have had 200k people register an interest but do they have a clue how many will convert to sales on the 11th and how many will be sales over the next 1- 3 months? No they don't. They did not gather the info correctly and like many here I personally registered more than 1 email address with them.

I expect to be (a) lonely and (b) very happy when I'm one of about 5 queuing at my local o2 store on Friday morning.
 
just remember that we live in a fan boy bubble. Very few people are particulary interested in the 3g iPhone and even fewer will be beating down the doors at o2 come next Friday

Thay are many and we are few. Rejoice!
 
Well, I must say that I was very surprised with their preparations and expectations for the launch. I expected to be pretty much the first one there if I arrived at open time... perhaps one or two others but no queue as such. So to have barriers did seem a bit odd. They must have an idea of interest from people coming into the store and asking about getting one on launch day I guess - only time will tell for sure!
 
I agree. I imagine a lot of stores in high-profile places (Oxford St. and the like) will have pretty big queues, but I can't imagine those in other parts of London and the UK will have hordes of people lined up. We're not American, after all - we have jobs to go to and families' mouths to feed! :p

Having said that, I think it'll be an advantage to live in London. If one store is sold out or too busy, I'll be hailing a taxi and demanding to be taken around town until I find one which isn't! All in the name of buying an over-expensive, shiny device which is going to make my life no better than it currently is, other than make me smile when I'm bored on the train/bus and need something to do with my hands.

We are all bonkers.
 
Locker said:
Well, I must say that I was very surprised with their preparations and expectations for the launch. I expected to be pretty much the first one there if I arrived at open time... perhaps one or two others but no queue as such. So to have barriers did seem a bit odd. They must have an idea of interest from people coming into the store and asking about getting one on launch day I guess - only time will tell for sure!
Click to expand...

We've seen interest go up >10% in polls recently.
We've seen polls indicate that of upcoming smartphone purchases, the majority will be for the 3G iPhone
We've seen polls indicating there is a significant waiting consumer base who didn't buy the v1 iPhone, and have been waiting patiently/ impatiently for the 3G version to turn up.

Demand will be higher. For any given store, it would easily be possible to outnumber the staff on the floor by ratios of 3:1 or more, just by having a dozen people turn up. Think 50 people, and you can see why they'd need crowd control in place. After all, isn't Apple/AT&T getting extra crowd control folks in? Another thing compounding this is that there will be large peaks in demand - the pre-work pre7.02am waiters those wanting to get it before their commute, then the lunch time crowd, then the after work before close crowd.
 
johnwin said:
just remember that we live in a fan boy bubble. !
Click to expand...

so true....i was one in a que of six people at my local o2 when the v1 launch the cpwh 300 yards away had no que.

remember this is a minor upgrade to a already launched product your average non-geek couldn't care less about 3g.

as we have had no mainstream publicity- tv-/newspaper ads-regarding the 3g iphone i fail to see how we are going to have this huge demand

lets face it even us geeks can't even get the details of exactly where,when how many what time etc.....so how do we expect joe public to know.:confused:
 
I imagine it'll be popular, but queuing up at 7.02/8.02/whatever? Can't see it.. seems to be a sport in the US but not here.

I bet they'll sell a ton on the Saturday though.
 
The people in both my local O2 and CPW stores have told me they will be opening at 7:02am on Friday morning.
 
I reckon the 16gb will be most popular (judging by the polls on here at least) but I'm sure they'll have plenty of stock. It's not like they're going to sell out of all the 16gb in 15 minutes.
 
TonyHoyle said:
I reckon the 16gb will be most popular (judging by the polls on here at least) but I'm sure they'll have plenty of stock. It's not like they're going to sell out of all the 16gb in 15 minutes.
Click to expand...

With the level of knowledge the staff shows, it would probably take them 15 minutes to activate ONE phone.
 
i'll be heading into the nottingham city centre today, so will pop into the o2 store i intend to buy from on friday..

will try and get more info from them if i can.. no doubt it will be the same info i've already had from them anyway :rolleyes:

like R-Fly, i hope more 8gb's sell than 16gb's until i get my 16gb that is :p
 
dalvin200 said:
i'll be heading into the nottingham city centre today, so will pop into the o2 store i intend to buy from on friday..

will try and get more info from them if i can.. no doubt it will be the same info i've already had from them anyway :rolleyes:

like R-Fly, i hope more 8gb's sell than 16gb's until i get my 16gb that is :p
Click to expand...

Cool, let us know what you find out. I am going to go around a few O2 stores at the start of next week to see what they know, and so I know where they all are just in case one sells out of 16GB Black (unless white looks good in person). But like it has been said earlier, I am not sure it will be as hectic as it is on here, as this is indeed a fan boy bubble.
 
sibruk said:
The people in both my local O2 and CPW stores have told me they will be opening at 7:02am on Friday morning.
Click to expand...

I rang o2 in birmingham, uk today, they said they have'nt have an official opening time, either 8.02 or 7.02! I think it depends on where the o2 store is based in the country!
 
I'm going to check the Notting Hill Gate O2 store this afternoon. I'm still on planning to get the first central line train that gets there at 5:52am on Friday and then waiting it out. I'd rather get up an hour or two early and get one than not. And I hope to be in work by 9. Any spare time in the office setting it up will be a bonus.

I'm going for the 16GB black, which I would expect to be the most popular.
 
Although to be fair O2 and Apple said the same thing about last November's launch and I queued with a friend when two stores opened across the road from each other (having closed that afternoon) they had marketing girls giving out hand warmers etc there was about 20 people at one store and no one at the other. It was all over in 30mins with plenty left.

Digmo
www.digmo.co.uk
 
I want a 16gb black iPhone 3G badly, but I can wait a few weeks after the launch day, as both the AppStore and the 2.0 software will keep me entertained.
 
Bear in mind that any O2 inside a shopping centre/mall will not be allowed to open any earlier than usual. It's up to the mall's opening times. Mine in Hammersmith, for example, isn't opening until 9.30 :eek:
 
mailliw said:
Bear in mind that any O2 inside a shopping centre/mall will not be allowed to open any earlier than usual. It's up to the mall's opening times. Mine in Hammersmith, for example, isn't opening until 9.30 :eek:
Click to expand...

It won't apply to 'all' stores in shopping centers, malls.

My local store, for example, is situated in an enclosed precinct,
and is opening at 7.02am along with the precinct.

R-Fly
 
mailliw said:
Having said that, I think it'll be an advantage to live in London. If one store is sold out or too busy, I'll be hailing a taxi and demanding to be taken around town until I find one which isn't! All in the name of buying an over-expensive, shiny device which is going to make my life no better than it currently is, other than make me smile when I'm bored on the train/bus and need something to do with my hands.

We are all bonkers.
Click to expand...

Love your analysis! :D
 
mailliw said:
All in the name of buying an over-expensive, shiny device which is going to make my life no better than it currently is, other than make me smile when I'm bored on the train/bus and need something to do with my hands.

We are all bonkers.
Click to expand...

But heck, to actually get a commuting Londoner to smile and not be bored? An excellent result.
The bonus being now, that silently with speakers on, with Bonjour networking, you can get multiplayer games going on in the Tube, with any person you want to. (Bearing in mind security aspects). Would be quite fun to actually meet people this way. Usually the London commute can be very socially dampening (the unwritten rules about talking on the Tube, let alone to say hello to a stranger you like the look of...)
(And regarding hands, and the need to do something with them, probably best they get kept busy with an iPhone... ;)
 
t0mat0 said:
But heck, to actually get a commuting Londoner to smile and not be bored? An excellent result.
The bonus being now, that silently with speakers on, with Bonjour networking, you can get multiplayer games going on in the Tube, with any person you want to. (Bearing in mind security aspects). Would be quite fun to actually meet people this way. Usually the London commute can be very socially dampening (the unwritten rules about talking on the Tube, let alone to say hello to a stranger you like the look of...)
(And regarding hands, and the need to do something with them, probably best they get kept busy with an iPhone... ;)
Click to expand...

Wasn't it just like a year or two ago that all you brits were addicted to snake? Spore should help things on the "Tube." ;)
 
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