14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has sold out on iPhone 4S pre-orders in the U.S, and so has AT&T according to the latest reports, which say the carrier has received pre-orders for 200,000 units since Friday morning.
As opposed to Friday morning, when Apple started allowing iPhone 4S purchases online for delivery on October 14, Apple’s web store is showing a less optimistic estimate in shipping times for the iPhone 4S for anyone attempting to pre-order a unit - 1-2 weeks.
Cupertino apparently didn’t anticipate that its iPhone 4S, an incremental update of the iPhone 4 launched in mid-2010, would be so welcomed by the Apple user-base, and smartphone fans worldwide.
Some of these iPhone 4S purchases are undoubtedly tied to the recent death of Apple’s visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs, but the surge is still unexpectedly large, even by Apple standards.
The Mac maker is being caught off guard again, in what some would regard as an intentional stock cutback to generate hype, therefore spur increased desire to have a smartphone that isn’t easily obtainable.
Directly tied to the surge is also AT&T, America’s #1 provider of wireless telecommunications services and the biggest iPhone carrier since 2007.
The operator has announced that pre-orders for the iPhone 4S reached the 200,000 mark in less than a day since Apple gave the green light to order the handset ahead of its public release.
“AT&T has seen extraordinary demand for iPhone 4S with more than 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours alone, the most successful iPhone launch we've ever had,” the carrier said in a statement. “It's obvious customers like AT&T's 4G network, which is the only one that lets their iPhone download twice as fast and talk and surf simultaneously.”
Only on AT&T’s network will the iPhone 4S reach twice download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps (HSDPA).
Apple confirmed this week that iPhone 4S will be physically available October 14 across Apple retail stores and operator stores nationwide, including Verizon and Sprint outlets.
By the end of October, iPhone 4S will roll out worldwide to 22 more countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.