Apple's highly-anticipated iPhone 3G is set to launch in 22 countries this Friday July 11th and O2 has provided an early warning on availability.
One particular O2 customer had e-mailed the iPhone exclusive operator to complain about its pre-order service. In response, O2 sales director, Stephen Shurrock, said:
"Demand was at 13,000 orders per second. Frankly, we have to admit we just weren't prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is. The next opportunity to get an iPhone will be when the device goes on sale in the high street on 11th July. O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores will be taking new orders and upgrade orders. Apple stores will only be taking new customer contracts. The approach on Friday will also be on a first come first served basis. The amount of devices will vary depending on the store but will be on average a few dozen iPhones in each O2 or CPW store.
We are expecting early queues and, like the online site, are expecting to sell out very quickly. Apple stores will have more devices. We will be receiving deliveries from Apple roughly once a week for the foreseeable future but it will be several weeks before stocks increase. We will release stock updates for the online shop as they become available.
Unfortunately, [Apple] have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries. We are confident that over time we will start to get sufficient volume to meet demand, but it is likely that stock will be in very short supply for some weeks to come."
There's no shortage of hype surrounding Apple's flagship handset, and lengthy queues are expected come Friday morning. Unfortunately, it appears many will be left wanting as stock will no doubt sell out in seconds.
