Two U.S. retail outlets said they have sold out their pre-order allotments of the iPhone 3G S, slated to go on sale Friday, according to media reports Tuesday.
AT&T, the carrier that has an exclusive contract with Apple for U.S. service, last week ran through the iPhone 3G S phones it had set aside for pre-orders. New orders would be delivered on a "first come, first-served basis," the AT&T website said.
Best Buy, the electronics retail chain that also sells the Apple iPhone, said Saturday that it had exhausted its pre-order supply as well.
Apple Inc. said it was still taking orders, but a sales representative said June 19 was now an "estimate" of when the phone would arrive, ComputerWorld reported Monday.
Apple ran short of iPhone 3Gs last year, when inventories remained tight for weeks after the July 17, 2008 launch.
But Apple's inventory issues may not be as severe as last year, said industry analyst Ezra Gottheil at Technology Business Research.
"Clearly, there's not a much pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G S as there was for the iPhone 3G. And however sweet the iPhone 3G S is, it's step-up is not equivalent to the move from EDGE to 3G. Also, the global economy's not in the shape it was last year," Gottheil said.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article