Apple Warns iPhone Duo Walk-In Buyers Away as $1,999 Launch Stock Runs Dry
Updated
Updated · MacRumors · Oct 17
Apple Warns iPhone Duo Walk-In Buyers Away as $1,999 Launch Stock Runs Dry
3 articles · Updated · MacRumors · Oct 17
Summary
Apple retail staff have been told to discourage customers without pre-orders from visiting stores for an iPhone Duo on its Oct. 23 launch day because walk-in stock will likely be unavailable.
Online signals point to the same shortage: pickup reservations briefly appeared when pre-orders opened, then vanished, and Apple now tells customers to check back Oct. 24 for possible pickup availability.
Demand overwhelmed supply within minutes of pre-orders opening, with delivery dates slipping past launch day almost immediately and all U.S. configurations showing Jan. 25 shipping estimates within 30 minutes.
Production problems had foreshadowed the squeeze for weeks, with Nikkei reporting only a few hundred units a day in late August and Bloomberg saying Apple once feared sales might slip into November.
The warning could shut off one of the last ways to dodge long online waits for the $1,999 device, which Apple says drew "nothing short of extraordinary" demand.