Wristbands, 500 Phones, 50 At a Time

A shopping mall concierge desk has revealed more details about how the iPhone sales might be handled this Friday, although it’s not clear if the policies extend to other locations. According to the modmyiphone Web site, an unnamed mall will be handing out 500 wristbands at 5 p.m. to insure fairness in selling the phones. The report sounds plausible: previous retail store events have demonstrated Apple’s interest in providing a safe and fair experience, although previous pay-offs haven’t been as super-hyped as the iPhone. Also according to the concierge, the first 50 persons in the waiting line will enter the store at 5:50 p.m., with additional groups of 50 admitted to buy their iPhones until the entire 500 iPhones in stock are sold, regardless of the hour. Based on those numbers, the Apple and AT&T stores would sell about 992,500 iPhones on the first day.