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Running out of iPhones is pretty unprofessional...

phalewhale

phalewhale

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 10, 2007
666
0
Hi all, I'm from England and just wanted to say that I think running out of iPhones and reporting them as currently unavailable is pretty unprofessional in my opinion. I think Apple should have had a replacement lined up before now, especially if the new iPhone is still a month away.

However, it will prevent Apple having to dish out $100 refunds when the new one is introduced.
 
i dont disagree but I kinda think its a situation where they "ran out" so that when the new iPhone comes out within the next month or so, they dont have thousands of people bitching at them because they bought the 2.5G one a week before. Its unprofessional but somewhat intelligent if they are indeed shipping a new phone soon.
 
DuFFy said:
i dont disagree but I kinda think its a situation where they "ran out" so that when the new iPhone comes out within the next month or so, they dont have thousands of people bitching at them because they bought the 2.5G one a week before. Its unprofessional but somewhat intelligent if they are indeed shipping a new phone soon.
Click to expand...

Apple is WAY too nice. If they kept producing those iPhones and sold them even up until the DAY the 3G comes out, it would've been good. How is it Apple's fault stupid people don't realize that new technology is released everyday. If you don't do research, then too bad.
 
apple stopped the first gen because they need(ed) full capacity to produce the new one so they get the right quantity for its global launch!
 
I think it should be noted that they didn't run out, you just can't buy them online anymore. You can still go to a store and buy one, and I am pretty sure there are tons on ebay, so really it is no big deal for apple to make them unavailable. The positive thing is that now everyone is aware something new is coming out. Increase in demand. They don't normally warn people about updates, I am willing to bet they have just shipped out the rest of their stock to apple and att or whoever stores and are stocking up for the new release. The new store in Boston had plenty to buy for their opening on thursday, they are still selling phones up till the update and will still have returns.
 
Actually what happened was I called Steve and said, "hey dude, when is the new 3G phone hitting the Apple Store?"

Steve replied, "July 4th, I think...maybe later."

"Steve, July 4th is Independence Day, and I'm going to be blowing all my dough on beers, beef, and fire-crackers", I replied.

Steve said, "Well... If we bleed the channel in June we'd be ready for July."

So I said, "Steve... That's no good. Why not just stop making the phones noow so you bleed the channel dry before the conference?"

Steve was alarmed at this. He said, "We'd run the risk of completely running out before the expo!"

Then we looked at each other in agreement and both said at the same time, "hey - not a bad idea."

I think steve was looking for an invitation to my july 4th party And he swears the idea was all his, but come on... who is he kidding...

So anyway... The real reason there are no iPhones right now is because I throw really great 4th of July parties.

Alex
 
Would you rather:

1. Buy an EDGE iPhone to find out 2 weeks later the 3G/GPS/More storage/same price one comes out.
2. Not be able to buy the EDGE one, and then 2 weeks later find out that the 3G/GPS/More storage one comes out and is the same price.

/thread ends here
 
sfoalex said:
Actually what happened was I called Steve and said, "hey dude, when is the new 3G phone hitting the Apple Store?"

Steve replied, "July 4th, I think...maybe later."

"Steve, July 4th is Independence Day, and I'm going to be blowing all my dough on beers, beef, and fire-crackers", I replied.

Steve said, "Well... If we bleed the channel in June we'd be ready for July."

So I said, "Steve... That's no good. Why not just stop making the phones noow so you bleed the channel dry before the conference?"

Steve was alarmed at this. He said, "We'd run the risk of completely running out before the expo!"

Then we looked at each other in agreement and both said at the same time, "hey - not a bad idea."

I think steve was looking for an invitation to my july 4th party And he swears the idea was all his, but come on... who is he kidding...

So anyway... The real reason there are no iPhones right now is because I throw really great 4th of July parties.

Alex
Click to expand...

One fine day in the middle of the night, two dead men got up to fight, back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other!

You're as mad as a bag of pencils, why ring Jobsie if you're face to face with him!? :confused::D

EDIT: I disagree with the OP, it's not unproffesional, it's great timing.
 
The General said:
Would you rather:

1. Buy an EDGE iPhone to find out 2 weeks later the 3G/GPS/More storage/same price one comes out.
2. Not be able to buy the EDGE one, and then 2 weeks later find out that the 3G/GPS/More storage one comes out and is the same price.

/thread ends here
Click to expand...

Would you rather by a photo ipod and then have a video one come out a week later, or a better macbook, or imac, or any apple product. It's how they have done business, not selling an item is trying something completely new, so no the thread doesn't just end here as simply as you put it.
Ps. You can still buy the EDGE iPhone in apple stores and from att, just not from apple online. Your "point 1." will still happen to people.
 
Moi un Mouton said:
There's nothing like a shortage to create demand :)
Click to expand...

Good call!

The General said:
Would you rather:

1. Buy an EDGE iPhone to find out 2 weeks later the 3G/GPS/More storage/same price one comes out.
2. Not be able to buy the EDGE one, and then 2 weeks later find out that the 3G/GPS/More storage one comes out and is the same price.

/thread ends here
Click to expand...

That's all well and good if it's only gonna be 2 weeks. But look at it this way, O2 and CarphoneWarewhouse dropped the price of the 8GB iPhone to £169 in the UK one month ago. Both chains reported 0 stock pretty much 2 weeks later. This pretty much meant that no one would be buying an iPhone from Apple for £100 more anyway.

So, 2 weeks is upon us in the UK and still no new iPhone. If it comes this coming week, fair enough, but if the reports about At&T staff having a holiday blackout in a months time are true, then isn't 6 weeks is a bit too long? I know of loads who want to buy the iPhone now who aren't bothered about having the latest/greatest. Aren't Apple are missing out on this revenue? What do their shareholders think I wonder?

I'm not having a go at anyone, I just think it's an interesting topic.
 
acfusion29 said:
Apple is WAY too nice. If they kept producing those iPhones and sold them even up until the DAY the 3G comes out, it would've been good. How is it Apple's fault stupid people don't realize that new technology is released everyday. If you don't do research, then too bad.
Click to expand...

So False. What research can you do? Most people buying technology do not trust rumors, and Apple's (and a lot of other companies) insistence to not comment on rumors or even release product information is unfair and almost unethical. I have wanted to buy an iPhone for about a month, but I decided to wait until gen 2 comes out. But I still have no idea how long the wait will be- it could be months still and I need to buy one of these things by mid June. It is not fair to me as a customer that I have no idea what is happening with product releases. \

They are not too nice at all.
 
Do you all really believe Apple let supplies run out? I don't think they really care that much if people buy the 1st gen even the day before the 3G comes out. Returns aren't that big of a deal. That's where refurbs come from, and Apple needs them to honor warranty returns.

This is a supply and demand issue and Apple, IMO, simply forecasted incorrectly. Like a previous poster stated, there are still iPhones in brick and mortar stores, they aren't completely gone, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them back online. Especially when the 3G is just announced at WWDC and not released. :eek:
 
I find it unprofessional too. But Apple has their motives. Maybe they truly just ran out of stock?

In any case it's not Apple's job to make sure everyone is in the know about new products.

Buyer beware.

Fiascos like this don't happen with the iPods, nobody "complains" because a newer iPod came out. New technology comes out all the time, and while there is a minority of people who bitch and moan, most do not.
 
onlycopunk said:
Fiascos like this don't happen with the iPods, nobody "complains" because a newer iPod came out. New technology comes out all the time, and while there is a minority of people who bitch and moan, most do not.
Click to expand...

You new around here or something? lol If took the percentage of people that complain on forums like these to be a representation of the whole Apple customer base it wouldn't look good. Thankfully it doesn't translate that way!
 
Pantocrator said:
So False. What research can you do? Most people buying technology do not trust rumors, and Apple's (and a lot of other companies) insistence to not comment on rumors or even release product information is unfair and almost unethical. I have wanted to buy an iPhone for about a month, but I decided to wait until gen 2 comes out. But I still have no idea how long the wait will be- it could be months still and I need to buy one of these things by mid June. It is not fair to me as a customer that I have no idea what is happening with product releases. \

They are not too nice at all.
Click to expand...

It'll definitely, like 100%, be before iPhone 2.0 at the end of June. There is no way Jobs would ship iPhone 2.0 with no phones ;).
 
Mikey B said:
This is a supply and demand issue and Apple, IMO, simply forecasted incorrectly. Like a previous poster stated, there are still iPhones in brick and mortar stores, they aren't completely gone, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them back online. Especially when the 3G is just announced at WWDC and not released. :eek:
Click to expand...

Yes, the forecast was not correct --- but it's not what people expected.

Apple over-estimated Europe's iphone sales. If O2 was selling those estimated amounts --- they would be running out of their original iphone stock in Jan 2008 and would need to buy a second batch from Apple.

But by March, O2 still has inventory from their original launch.

How to get rid of them? O2 priced them below AT&T iphones so people from China and Russia would buy the iphones from O2 instead of AT&T (to be exported to China and Russia) --- and then O2 end-of-life the first gen iphone.

Apple then has to tell the taiwanese manufacturers to stop making first gen iphones because the carriers have EOL the iphone.

The iphone was prematurely EOL by the carriers --- that's why there is a supply and demand problem right now.
 
Mikey B said:
Can I borrow your crystal ball?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, its called the "Steve Jobs is not a moron" view of the future. You have to remember he runs a $160 billion dollar company that has grown by 2500% over the past 5 years, this guy isn't a fool.

He wouldn't have cancelled the production of the old iPhone unless the new one was ready to go into production, and certainly wouldn't release a huge software release without phones to buy in the shops to run that software immediately. As the old iPhone has been discontinued you have to assume there will be a new model with the new software.

samab said:
How to get rid of them? O2 priced them below AT&T iphones so people from China and Russia would buy the iphones from O2 instead of AT&T (to be exported to China and Russia) --- and then O2 end-of-life the first gen iphone.
Click to expand...

I doubt it, it sold out far too quickly in the UK for that, you can't suddenly change your process to buy from the UK (rather than the US) in about a week. Anyhow they could have continued making the old phones for both markets if needed Apple wouldn't have cancelled production because of O2.
 
Do you think they will completely stop selling the 1st gen iPhones? Or offer them as a cheaper alternative/different model.
 
jontucker said:
You new around here or something? lol If took the percentage of people that complain on forums like these to be a representation of the whole Apple customer base it wouldn't look good. Thankfully it doesn't translate that way!
Click to expand...


Yeah thankfully it doesn't. People are message boards are a whiny minority. In reality I'm willing to wager a large amount of iPhone users have no clue that there is a new one going to be released, that or frankly don't care "that much" about technology to warrant all the hype and rumors.
 
Eraserhead said:
I doubt it, it sold out far too quickly in the UK for that, you can't suddenly change your process to buy from the UK (rather than the US) in about a week. Anyhow they could have continued making the old phones for both markets if needed Apple wouldn't have cancelled production because of O2.
Click to expand...

UK is the center of mobile phone "box breaking" in the world. Chinese and Russian merchants don't have to worry a single thing --- the UK "box breaking" gangs are going to buy everything in sight first and tell contact the overseas merchants later.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Box_breaking_hits_iPhone.html

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/news.aspx?id=24288

It's not just about O2. Apple also expected France and Germany to start buying 2nd batches of iphones after Christmas. But Germany hasn't even sold 100,000 units until this week. Same thing for AT&T --- Apple stores in US "ran out" iphones at the end of March and most analysts were talking about Apple stuffing AT&T's inventory channel.

Apple can't tell its taiwanese suppliers to keep on making first gen iphones when nobody in Europe is filling their inventory back up (and you already stuffed AT&T's inventory channel back in March).
 
Apple would NEVER do this unintentionally or without warning. They are doing this purely out of strategy and simply discontinued or suspended the version of the iPhone.
 
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