There are no constraints on the supply of iPhones at Apple’s retail stores, according to in-store reports and Apple’s own on-line availability application. Every single stores is showing “green” on the availability page by Saturday afternoon (PDT), and has been since the iPhone first went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday. Field reports indicate that AT&T store lines were longer than at Apple stores, but only because the purchase process was taking longer. The eBay market seems to have collapsed: there are scores of no-bids on completed auctions Saturday as potential buyers realize they can pay retail price at a store. Unexplainably,hundreds of new eBay iPhone auctions have active bids ranging from $699 to $1,325 per phone. Many of the product photos are duplicates, indicating sellers with many phones. Also, most of the auctions are shorter (2-3 days) than eBay’s standard 7-day duration, indicating that sellers anticipate a declining market. An technical analysis by Corey Spring shows only half the auctions ended with a winning bid on Sunday, with barely a $50 profit. Check my iPhone debut report for links to stories and videos of Friday’s event.
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The iPhone is way too costly. They marketing hype was just hype as expected. iPhone is not going to become the next “big” thing as Apple/AT&T would have wished for. Too much hype.
A small notation that should be made. In originally setting up the Apple Store(s) in the continental USA, I am sure Apple did ALLOT of research before setting up shop in many different communities. However, it is interesting to note that they may have geared the research more towards Mac +/- iPod demand ( of-course you may say). And I agree. However, these sales may just show that the computer/ipod shopper demographic may not be that of the iPhone shopper, leading many store with an adequately more number of phones then they would have wished ( Also because people can’t just jump out of their existing contracts with other carriers ) Thought that might play a role in the sale numbers. :-)
Joe Diggs is just full of it. The simple answer is that Apple had ample time to stock its stores with lots of iPhones. Hundreds per Apple store, and thousands at some Apple stores. Along with 30 to 90 units at 1800 AT&T outlets.
When the weekend is over, Apple will have generated more revenue from phone sales in a single weekend then ever before.
When will the iphone be sold and functional in the middle east countries? [IFO -- Apple has only committed to iPhones for the UK and Europe. They have not announced any schedule for other parts of the world.]