[ctt1wbw]

Amazing

So I wonder if Palm is still giddy over their 50,000 units sold in the first weekend?

[ghporter]

I'm glad I ordered mine on Thursday...

By the way, though the Gizmodo article says that the phones won't be available until 8:00 am, my AT&T store says they'll be setting up folks that preordered starting at 7:00 am, so maybe it's just Apple Stores that won't open until 8.

I'm going to be at least an hour early, and stop by Starbucks on the way. That should give me enough time to move all the stuff in my old phone that isn't on the SIM onto it.

[Raman]

We ordered 2 32GS' this afternoon at an AT&T store and were told that they won't be available for 7-10 days after the release. oh well!

[Brien]

This is why I'm glad I'm skipping on the 3G S. June 2010 here I come!

[Randman]

Just go to an Apple store like last year and get yours. AT&T sold out, not Apple. Learn to read.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw 

Amazing

So I wonder if Palm is still giddy over their 50,000 units sold in the first weekend?

How many units do you think AT&T had to sell out of?

[ctt1wbw]

Whatever the initial purchase shipment coming from overseas was.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Randman 

Just go to an Apple store like last year and get yours. AT&T sold out, not Apple. Learn to read.

Apple stores will be mobbed just like AT&T stores. Plus, a lot of them are currently closed prior to the rollout, so getting the "human touch" for plan features and such while pre-ordering at an Apple Store is right out. Perhaps your post should have mentioned "go to the online Apple Store and preorder." I read quite well; I did my preorder in person at an AT&T store. I didn't even know that was possible until I asked while my wife was shopping for her new phone.

[Randman]

The learn to comment was for the OP who makes it sound as if all iPhones have sold out, which is not the case.

The Apple Stores will open early at 8 a.m. Friday. Like to be a wait but not as long as last year because of lesser demand than the 3G as well as as the fact that there won't be the jams like last year when Apple rolled out the iPhone, MobileMe(ss) and the iPhone OS at the same time with in-store activation.

[ort888]

I just hope they have both of my phones.

I didn't hit "upgrade eligibility" until Thursday.
I went to the Apple Store on Wednesday to ask a few questions and reserve two iPhones.
I was told I had to reserve online and I had to wait until my after my upgrade date, even though it was only a day away. I was also told by the employee that I would have to go through the process twice because they can't reserve two phones on the same ticket.
So I wait a day and go onto the Apple site, reserve my phone, and immediately repeat the process to get a second phone.
24 hours pass and I get a confirmation email that says I have one phone reserved.
I call the Apple store and they tell me the only way to order two phones is if I have two separate Apple IDs. (which I was NOT told originally)
So I make another ID for my wife, and order a phone with information.
That was Friday morning and I still don't have a response from Apple.

If they don't end up with two phones for me I'm going to be annoyed. I really don't want to pick up one and then wait a week to get another one. Sorting that out contractually will be a hassle. So if they only have one phone for me, I'm going to have to wait and fight it out for two in the coming weeks. Who knows how that will go.

Another problem is that I have to work on Friday... it's just a bad day to take off. So I was going to have to wait until after 6pm anyway... which is probably going to be another hassle.

I guess this is just the price we pay as early adopters. I should really be used to this game by now.

[amazing]

It's looks like a lot of folks decided that this was the model they'd been waiting for. Apple finally got the right combination to unlock a lot of wallets.

[ort888]

I'm pretty sure that there will be WAY less demand this time.

For the 1st iPhone there was demand because it was the first phone.
The 3G had insane demand because it was $199.
The 3GS is at best an incremental upgrade over the 3G and since everyone who bought a 3G for $199 will have to pay $399 for a 3GS, I can't imagine that there will be lines around the block.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw 

Whatever the initial purchase shipment coming from overseas to the US was.

Fixed that for you. It is launching on the 19th in 8 countries.

[ctt1wbw]

Yeah, that's what I meant. I haven't heard a total for the sales figures yet.

[Eriamjh]

And the Apple stock price keeps going down...

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I'm pretty sure that there will be WAY less demand this time.

For the 1st iPhone there was demand because it was the first phone.
The 3G had insane demand because it was $199.
The 3GS is at best an incremental upgrade over the 3G and since everyone who bought a 3G for $199 will have to pay $399 for a 3GS, I can't imagine that there will be lines around the block.

Winner.

There are not going to be a lot of new iPhone users because of this upgrade. Most people still waiting to buy an iPhone are waiting for the iPhone to come to a carrier OTHER than AT&T. Most purchases of the 3GS will come from people upgrading from 2.0 or 3G.

Personally, I'm going to wait several months because there is nothing compelling enough about this upgrade to justify rushing out to get it and waiting in line. I may even wait for the next revision...

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by ort888 

The 3GS is at best an incremental upgrade over the 3G and since everyone who bought a 3G for $199 will have to pay $399 for a 3GS....

This is incorrect, or at least incomplete. Anyone with any AT&T phone and a contract has the option to upgrade their equipment after a certain period of time, and the iPhone is no exception. AT&T has an equipment upgrade program that lets users upgrade at a discount after 24 months or less on a current contract. Sure, current 3G owners will have to wait a year or more for the discounted price, meaning lower immediate demand. But they will still get the discounted price. The whole issue is what constitutes a "qualified customer." AT&T provides that definition in the linked article above, which includes a lot of information about iPhone upgrades.

This isn't just a quibble. There's a whole lot of incorrect information going back and forth all over, including in this forum. The facts are that you CAN upgrade ANY AT&T phone to an iPhone 3GS, but you still have to comply with their contract requirements, including (maybe especially) the length of service requirement.

[ort888]

Yeah, I'm very aware of all of that. I was specifically talking about demand on launch... and demand on launch will be low(er), because everyone who currently has an iPhone 3G and didn't pay the $699 "no commitment" price is going to have to pay $399 for the iPhone 3GS.

And judging by the amount of people who are whining about it online, a lot of people won't be doing that.

[ghporter]

Well I hope it isn't really crowded on Friday-but at the same time I hope the product is a success. Judging from the "sold out" issue with AT&T, that may not be a problem.

[ort888]

I called my local Apple store today and everything is reserved properly and ready to go. Apparently my first two orders did go through after all.

They really need a better notification system... but whatever. So far so good. We'll see how it goes on Friday. I hate dealing with lines and hype.

[ghporter]

I got an email from AT&T that gives me a link to my order. It shows as "shipped," though the UPS tracking number doesn't pull anything up yet. Fingers crossed, but I'm confident.