Was iPhone availability this bad with previous launches?

[CEmajr]

Yes it's usually taken until mid November for supply to meet demand since Apple started releasing them in the Fall. The 5S wasn't that bad if you wanted Space Grey or Silver though.

It wasn't until the iPhone 4 that I started upgrading every year. The 4S was the only one that seemed to meet demand fairly early.

 

[mtneer]

Yup, I found it quite difficult to find the 4 in December 2010. It was pretty easy to get the 5s (16gb) last December, though my dad couldn't find a 32gb model for a few weeks.

Did you mean to say July 2010?? The iPhone 4 was released in the summer. By December it was on sale for close to 5 months and was available on walk-in.

 

[sviato]

Did you mean to say July 2010?? The iPhone 4 was released in the summer. By December it was on sale for close to 5 months and was available on walk-in.

Nope, I mean December. My contract ended in December and I couldn't find a 16GB iPhone 4 to upgrade anywhere. I called multiple carrier kiosks/stores and Apple stores but they were always out of stock. Finally found one at a 3rd party reseller in a not so busy mall. The Christmas rush is real my friend.

 

[ScottNWDW]

The release of the iPhone 6 for me has been so far been the worst.
The IPhone 3G waited in line about 2 hours the third day after launch.
IPhone 4 waited launch day in line about 5 hours
IPhone 5 waited about an hour on launch day when the store opened. Store opened at 8 was home by 9
So far with the 6 I've been back order twice by Apple, went to AT&T, was told it would be 4 weeks. Ordered anyway. A few days ago, was told back-ordered until mid December. Cancelled that order.
People at work ordered after me and have phones and a few just walked in at the right time and was able to pick one up.

Also ordered from AT&T an iPad 2 on pre-order and just got notice yesterday that it shipped. This was after even it was back ordered, yet they have been in stores practically since launch day.

 

[JayIsAwesome]

We're actually getting a lot more i6's in at my best buy store. 6+s are coming in too but definitely no where near as frequent as the 6.

 

[zorinlynx]

I'm surprised at how badly Apple underestimated demand of the 6+. You'd think they'd realize there would be more demand, since a lot of people have been waiting a long time for a giant screen iPhone.

I'm glad I only wanted a 6, and didn't have to deal with that...but I feel bad for my 6+ wanting comrades.

 

[Jase718]

Personally the 6/plus release has been the worst. The 3g, 4, 5 and 5s were a breeze compared to the 6/plus release. I even remember going to Grand Central at 8:30am for the 5s and getting out at 11. I figured demand was going to be greater because of the bigger screens so I camped out the night before around 10:30pm and by 10am still wasn't through the terminal doors. At which point I said screw it.

 

[baller1308]

2 screen sizes with multiple colors each this year.

I know the 5C was also released along the 5S, but it wasn't as popular.

Apple Stores seems to be getting them in on a daily basis these days. 6+ definitely seems to be harder to find.

 

[KPOM]

I'm surprised at how badly Apple underestimated demand of the 6+. You'd think they'd realize there would be more demand, since a lot of people have been waiting a long time for a giant screen iPhone.

I'm glad I only wanted a 6, and didn't have to deal with that...but I feel bad for my 6+ wanting comrades.

I think it was also a function of production constraints since the 6 Plus uses a different display while the 6 essentially just uses a bigger version of the iPhone 5 display (same PPI and proportional resolution). In any case, here in Chicago it's actually a bit easier to get the 6 Plus than the 6 on Verizon, though with the other carriers, and T-Mobile in particular the 6 Plus is hard to come by.