“Shoppers snatched up about 525,000 of the devices at Apple and AT&T stores from Friday’s launch through Sunday, said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research in San Francisco,” Josh Friedman and Ronald D. White report for The LA Times.
Friedman and White report, “A ‘small percentage’ of customers experienced problems activating the devices, said spokesman Mark Siegel of AT&T Inc. ‘Our first priority is to get them up and rolling as quickly as we can,’ Siegel said. He said the problems were minimal, considering the ‘revolutionary’ device and a new activation process.”
“Half of the Apple stores on the West Coast sold out of the devices on the first day, Chowdhry estimated,” Friedman and White report. “AT&T declined to comment on the availability of the device or sales totals, but according to news reports most of its 1,800 stores ran out of stock by Saturday.”
As for the activation issues, “Chowdhry said AT&T apparently had insufficient technical support staff on hand because it hadn’t prepared for such heavy demand. ‘The load was more than the system was designed to handle,’ Chowdhry said,” Friedman and White report.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike R.” for the heads up.]
No problem here – 10 minutes activation and a lifetime of bliss.
Then why is the stock down in premarket?
iBrick my ass. Thanks for the headline MDN. You turds.
Got mine activated within hours after purchase, but they are having alot of issues transfering existing numbers from other carriers. I still can’t recieve calls on iphone.
The market opens at 10:00 EST go AAPL!
If it just sits there unusable, it is an iBrick until AT&T gets around to doing their job. I paid a $36 activation fee – it took 31 hours and 22 minutes for my iPhone to be activated. I deserve a refund!
Thank you, MDN, for sticking up for the users and explaining the problem so early – it made my weekend with my iBrick better than it would have been.
It’s not MDN’s job to defend Apple.
The iBrick is NOT FUD. It took me until Sunday to activate, and I was a current subscriber. It was probably the most frustrated I’ve been over an Apple product, and I’ve owned them all. I blame ATT for terrible lack of foresight on this. How they can even claim they didn;t expect this is intolerable. And Apple looks bad over it. And that angers me because I’m a shareholder and fanboi.
Nothing worse than spending Friday in line and then spending the next 43 hours looking at what is probably the most beautiful piece of engineering ever made and not being able to use it. ATT is crap.
not ready
Anyway hello all, wo
well I am looking for programmers if any one can help with some iphone online stuff
cheers
anthon
java etc
53 hours of waiting from when I first started until the completed it finally around 11pm yesterday
@Mama
Buy the rumours – sell the news
“It’s not MDN’s job to defend Apple.”
And it’s not Apple’s job to do AT&T’s work you muppet.
Who cares if it takes 10 min or 10 hrs,
After waiting in line since 4am, most people should start activation and go to sleep anyway. Then when they wake up, voila.
Mine took 36 hours to activate with at least 7 hours on the phone with AT&T (persistance is rewarded with activation). My phone now works well, except visual voicemail does not work (I am not the only one experiencing this problem). I spent 4 1/2 hours on the phone last night with AT&T trying to figure out how to get the VVM to work. We finally gave up because we were all literally exhausted. I called back this morning and the woman at AT&T finally had a clue … there was a check box on her system that says “Visual Voice Mail” that was unchecked, but it was grayed out so she couldn’t figure out how to enable it. Their engineers now have the issue and we will see if they can figure it out.
if your billing zipcode, is diffferent than your cell’s zip, you’re going to have a delay. It’s that simple.
As they say, patience is a virtue but impatience is usually understandable. We’ve all been waiting for months, though, so a few extra days isn’t so big of a deal.
As for premarket trading — it’s crap. Only traders are affecting the price premarket; what matters is what the investors think, and they’ll show up in a few minutes.
so nobody is going to talk about the 525,000 estimate, just AT&T and the ball they dropped?
MW: you are only seeing a very small part of the “picture”
You where all preselected. Chosen ones…To make sure Steve had a ‘predetermined excuse’ that would distract everyone from shortcomings that might pop up.
It’s very easy. You create a problem that you can manage, (similar to battery-life, screen-scratches), make sure that people have something to report,…and voila: Nobody talks about anything else. Great, another marketing marvel that will get into 101 for product-launches….
Oh, of course it was also to give you guys a bit of a flashback on ‘Vista-feeling’….
And yes, I’m a fanboy, and yes, I have to wait for at least a year to even hold it in my hands here in Thailand….
500,000 iPhones are going to be all over the country this week.
At least 10 people will get some hands on time with each one.
After they do nearly 5 Million more people will want one within this week on top of those that already do, but can’t get one because they are sold out.
AT & T better get its act together.
The 525,000 number is just a guess. Wait for Apple and/or AT&T to give the real number. There are strong indicators — statements from AT&T and Apple personnel working with customers whose activations failed — that the real number is over 1 million!
if your billing zipcode, is diffferent than your cell’s zip, you’re going to have a delay. It’s that simple.
Read this article for a solution which appears to have not been disseminated with any degree of efficiency by AT&T.
Anyone who knows anyone with this problem should pass them this link.
@lnuts,
Actually, the NYSE opens at 9:30 AM EDT and closes at 4:00 PM EDT.
Bought my wife’s iPhone at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. After having to do a 136 MB OS X update and 36 MB iTunes update (which wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that my job has DSL) I went through the activation process and reached the “Your activation will take additional time screen” somewhere around 7:40 p.m., with the initial email coming stating more time was needed at 7:48 p.m. on Friday.
iPhone was not activated until 4:30 a.m. this morning–so around a 56 hour activation time.
Worse was that mine was activated Saturday night, even though hers was registered first and is just another number on the same account.
You can imagine how happy she was over the weekend.
I can’t wait until the iPhone goes to T-Mobile. AT&T reception in my area, and where my kid goes to college, is horrible.
I wonder how major investors in Verizon are treating that company’s stock today?
I…
Went to my local (Clarendon) store at 6:30 Friday. 200 people in line. 7:30 I returned to the store, line gone. Bought my iPhone. Went home, and because I had a Verizon # I had to wait 2.5 hours to finally activate the phone. Stayed up til 1am syncing, creating playlists, converting video, and sending Apple feedback on the couple minor things I think need to be fixed with the first iPhone software update.
8:30am Saturday morning pulled my iPhone off the dock. Rode up to a motorcycle rally in Philadelphia with the rally agenda and meeting points all bookmarked. Listened to my music on the way up. Shortly after arriving I received a text message saying that all calls to my number would now go to my iPhone. Used the iPhone’s camera to take all of my event pix. Showed off my new toy to everyone. Laughed at the my friend who paid his daughter to stand in line at the Columbia Mall Store.
At 12:30am after spending the whole day showing off the phone to everyone the phone died. Discovered that my friend’s iPod charger (4g) would not charge his phone, but that my iPod charger (3g Fire Wire) would easily charge the phone (albeit probably more slowly than we’d’ve liked).
Sunday morning I had a full-charge. Woke up at 7am, watched a video until everyone was up. I wish there was a brightness control on the video. Showed more people my toy at breakfast. Many were amazed. Especially the gentleman who realized that an iPhone would mean he could travel with one device instead of phone, camera, iPod, and laptop.
Rode home enjoying the iPod functions the whole way. Uploaded my iPhone pix to the web (you must unlock the phone for iPhoto to import your pix). Decided that the CameraRaw format sucks because it does not make things simple.
MDN Magic Word: “ten” I have a 10am meeting with a client who wants to see my iPhone.
Go to this Apple site to check on availability. You can check by state and city. You’ll see most Apple stores are out. http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/
I was wondering if every sale of iPhone counted as a sale of a full copy of OSX? Therefore increasing market share on the OS side of things. Just wondering.
AT&T needs to waive the $36 activation fee for everyone that had problems with activation. And existing customers that had problems should get a $36 credit to their next wireless bill. C’mon AT&T, you’re making a fortune off of this deal with Apple anyway, and since you’re the one that screwed this up, do the right thing and refund the money. Otherwise, anyone that had a problem should call and demand a waiver of the fee if AT&T won’t voluntarily give it.
AT&T needs to waive the $36 activation fee for everyone that had problems with activation. And existing customers that had problems should get a $36 credit to their next wireless bill. C’mon AT&T, you’re making a fortune off of this deal with Apple anyway, and since you’re the one that screwed this up, do the right thing and refund the money. Otherwise, anyone that had a problem should call and demand a waiver of the fee if AT&T won’t voluntarily give it.
AT&T needs to waive the $36 activation fee for everyone that had problems with activation. And existing customers that had problems should get a $36 credit to their next wireless bill. C’mon AT&T, you’re making a fortune off of this deal with Apple anyway, and since you’re the one that screwed this up, do the right thing and refund the money. Otherwise, anyone that had a problem should call and demand a waiver of the fee if AT&T won’t voluntarily give it.
AT&T needs to waive the $36 activation fee for everyone that had problems with activation. And existing customers that had problems should get a $36 credit to their next wireless bill. C’mon AT&T, you’re making a fortune off of this deal with Apple anyway, and since you’re the one that screwed this up, do the right thing and refund the money. Otherwise, anyone that had a problem should call and demand a waiver of the fee if AT&T won’t voluntarily give it.
News Flash – Crashing sounds heard all around the United States this past weekend. On sunday morning, the streets were littered with smashed Blackberry’s and Palm Treo’s. What could have caused this?
Activation went smoothly for most of the new iPhone owners, myself included. It took exactly 2 minute 46 seconds to activate my iPhone. A few out of a thousand have problems and the media run around screaming “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”. Get a grip.
Can’t believe these idiots are still whining about their phone taking a day to activate. These morons are getting service on Sunday.
Disgusting to see America rapidly becoming the a$$hole capital of the world.
Off Topic: A curious question for any of you that have an iPhone, what’s with the ringtones? Does it cost money to make a ringtone for the thing?
I’m a Cingular/ATT customer, and have been for years. In the time I’ve been with them, I’ve had four different phones, and each one, yes, each one, failed to activate via their ‘over-the-phone’ or DIY activation. Each time, that’s four times, I’ve had to make a special trip to a tech shop (not all the shops can do this, ya know) and have the guys and gals there spend several minutes at their computers, and several minutes on the phone to HQ, to get my new phone up and running. Time is money, as they say.
Anyway, the fact that Apple took this remarkable step to make the activation process this customer friendly is, well, it’s amazing, and if it were only because of that, the iPhone is worth it.
>Many were amazed. Especially the gentleman who realized that an iPhone would mean he could travel with one device instead of phone, camera, iPod, and laptop.
What crap. An iPhone camera is not a *real* camera (nor is any cell phone camera) it’s just not possible to get half-way decent optics in something that small. And, pretty as it is, the iPhone isn’t even close to being a substitute for a laptop. Really.
“Decided that the CameraRaw format sucks because it does not make things simple.”
???
What are you talking about? The iPhone doesn’t save in Camera Raw.
while waiting 50 hours for phone activation is not something that i’d call acceptable the fact that it was over a weekend is a bit of a blessing in disguise. if your phone was up and running by the beginning of the business/workweek then you should be good to go.
okay, you spent 500 clams on a piece of equipment and you want it to work. yes, you should expect good customer service. but, if you cant go a weekend without your cellphone…?
geez, mebbe you should get a life.
it’s monday. if your iPhone works… QUITCHER BITCHIN’.
if it doesnt, please continue to bitch at your leisure.
you’re an early adopter. it happens.
@ Reality Check, What sort of reality plane are you on? have you seen the camera’s on MBP’s? Is the iphone camera any smaller?
What constitutes a real camera?
Your argument suggests that all digital camera’s are not camera’s because they do not use conventional film. If a digital camera is saving an image as a file, and an iphone is able to save an image as a file, what is the difference apart from the number of Mega pixels?
Was the iphone meant to substitute laptops?
Now you are going to say that an iphone is not even a mobile phone next……
Drink Some Camel’s Milk, the dimension warping fart you release will push you into an alternative dimension that will accommodate your shit invoking views!
Reality Check –
” And, pretty as it is, the iPhone isn’t even close to being a substitute for a laptop.”
The gentleman didn’t say the iPhone was a laptop substitute for everyone. He said he’d be able to travel with an iPhone “instead of phone, camera, iPod, and laptop.” Obviously, he travels with a laptop just to have internet access. I, too, look forward to leaving my laptop behind on short trips out of town.
a good article in the NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/technology/02cellphone.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Hello? If they sold 500k phones in the past 72 hours that would equal the activation of 3 phones per second 24/7 since launch… you don’t figure that might cause just a few hiccups for a percentage of people?
its just a phone, Yip and All the others are just :bad “
Also I am sick of hearing about stupid terrorists on Tv I want Iphone news dam it.
and there are allot of reasond for limiting software at this stag; you guys all know that.
I heard 200000 ?..
at&t said they had sold out 72000 iPhones, while Apple is expected to have sold about double that…
I’m sure anything over 300000 is pushing it.
I think 1 -3 million by tuesday
really
Also : we need a apple store in NZ
please. and
I want or can someone make some chocolates lie a iphone please,
I will eat them.
@Camel’s Milk Drinker: Reality Check, like Zune Tang should never be replied to.
@Chrissy One: After further testing, I’ve discovered that the Camera Raw bug is a Photoshop CS3 issue, not an iPhone issue.
AT&T’s Activation servers must run Windows……..
To “me”
The iBrick headline and story was appropriate. So was the update that AT&T and Apple were stepping up to remedy the situation.
MDN is not a cheerleader, they only report a lot of good news about Apple because (unlike the Steve-less 90’s) Apple is indeed “firing on all cylinders, as one commentator put it.
The iBrick headline was, in fact, *not* appropriate. It is one thing to point out that *some* people are having activation problems, but whether you realize it or not, the “iBrick” term went far beyond that, and puts a negative spin on things that you’d expect from John Dvorak. It seem some of you can’t handle any nuance. You say that “it’s not the job of MDN to defend Apple”. Well, true enough. But why exactly is the only alternative to go the “iBrick” route? It is a fact that if Dvorak, Enderle, Thurott, or any of the other usual suspects had said that, those who are now defending the “iBrick” slam would be suddenly very annoyed at the obnoxiousness of it all.
“@Chrissy One: After further testing, I’ve discovered that the Camera Raw bug is a Photoshop CS3 issue, not an iPhone issue.”
What exactly is the problem? I just might be able to help you.
Hey ChrissyOne,
Just curious. As an employee of Adobe, what are your feelings about Apple not supporting Flash on the iPhone?
“I can’t wait until the iPhone goes to T-Mobile. AT&T reception in my area, and where my kid goes to college, is horrible. “
Actually, you can wait… AT&T ‘s deal with Apple is for 5 years of exclusivity in the US…
So, don’t hold your breath.