iPhone 3G Sold Out in 21 States
2:30 pm, July 15th, 2008, Lonnie Lazar
Photo by Jim Heid
Apple reports being sold out of all models of the iPhone 3G in 117 of its 188 retail outlets in the United States five days after bringing the product to market. The company updates a page on its website after 9pm in each time zone where you can check availability near you, but there have been reports the information is unreliable. Yesterday dozens of people waited in line to buy a phone at the Apple store in Kansas City based on notice the store was fully stocked, but apparently the store’s shipment never arrived and the manager had to begin placating angry customers by 1pm. If you live in many locations along the eastern seaboard, you might consider driving to New York, but there you will encounter the same long lines persisting in front of stores in other major markets such as San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta.
The Apple website says, “Shipments of iPhone 3G arrive most days and availability is updated nightly,” for each of its stores, but advises to “get there early” because the phones are sold on a first come-first served basis. With wait times exceeding three hours and the sale/activation process continuing to take upwards of half an hour in the store, you’ll invest time as well as money getting a new iPhone anytime soon.
Via Fortune.
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Retail Stores, iPhone | Comment on this article
Got mine on Friday… They couldn’t activate in-store so i had to do it at home. Why don’t they just force you to sign a ATT contract on the spot and let you activate at home? What’s the point of in-store activation? Why would they care if you unlocked your phone if they already have you signed up for a 2 year contract?
angusshangus, on July 15th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Ordered mine through AT&T Premier and it arrived today.
No lines at all.
I feel cheated
Michael Cutillo, on July 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
“sold out” because they only shipped 10 iPhones to each store.
Dev, on July 15th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
My wife and I ordered our phones on Saturday, still waiting for the store to get them in.
Shane, on July 16th, 2008 at 5:15 am
The site really is unreliable. At the Oakridge, San Jose store they lied about getting a shipment. The store employees had no idea the site even said they would get one.
Michael, on July 20th, 2008 at 8:14 pm