»SukhMani«
*Nirbhau Nirvair*
More than 600,000 iPhone 4 units have been pre-ordered by customers over the last 24 hours, leaving both AT&T and Apple sold out of initial shipments. While units will be available in retail stores on June 24, users looking to have the latest iPhone shipped to their homes from Apple.com may wind up waiting until July 14 for their devices to arrive.
While Apple.com’s estimated “Ship By” date was July 2, 2010, earlier this morning, the pre-order page now indicates that it shipments will go out “by July 14th.” That date could be moved up, depending on how quickly Apple is able to get its supply chain adjusted, but this is just another sign that the demand for the iPhone 4 is outpacing even Apple’s own expectations.
If you were unable to pre-order or reserve an iPhone 4 yesterday, thanks in part to the AT&T meltdown, you may not be completely out of luck.
Although Apple is no longer taking reservations for the iPhone 4 at its Apple Store (Apple Store) retail locations, stores will be opening at 7 a.m. on June 24, 2010 and phones will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. AT&T retail locations will also have phones, although historically they have smaller quantities available than Apple retail locations.
Additionally, retail chains like Best Buy and Wal-mart will also be getting phones, although what impact — if any — increased demand will have on how many units those stores get is unclear.
In other words, if you’ve just got to have an iPhone 4 on launch day and you weren’t able to get a pre-order or reserve in on time, it might be a good idea to start scouting which Apple Store to camp in front of.
Here’s a Mashable Pro Tip from an Apple launch day veteran: Try Apple Stores that are inside shopping malls. Lines for the stand-alone locations can start really early and get long fast. However, most malls lock the doors after a certain period of time and don’t open up the doors until 4 a.m. in the off-holiday season. Good luck!
