Rumor: No new iPhone until June 24th?
Say it ain’t so! Faithful Macenstein reader Art Vandelay writes:
After hearing about the iPhone Shortage, I decided to call and ask for myself, to see if I could squeeze out any information, and after pressing him [The Apple rep] as to when to expect the iPhones, he told me “June 24th”, or last week of June. The order he placed [for a customer] before I called said that was the estimated delivery date, according to the computer. He also told me that the reason is supply and demand, and they are currently making them now. He said that there will be no iPhones sold online shipped until the end of June. When I pressed him if it was a new model, he said that Apple is secretive.
I was able to verify Art’s experience, for what its worth. So, what do we make of this? Could June 24th really be the actual ship date, or is it just an arbitrarily far-off date Apple has chosen to allow them to take orders, and then contact customers and tell them the upgraded models are available? If the later is the case, it would seem to imply the iPhone’s price will not change when the new model is released. It just seems odd to me that Apple would not ship any iPhones for essentially 2 months… Personally, I’ve been predicting we’ll see some new iPhones in the next two weeks, although with Jobs keynoting the WWDC June 9th, Art’s report is looking a bit more likely than my mystical predictions.
Look at what was just posted… http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/05/the_new_iphone.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_byteoftheapple
Interesting, but I don’t see why they’d let 2 months go by without a sale. There’s building demand, and the there’s just plain bad business sense. Perhaps they figure with a worldwide 3G release, they will be printing money anyway come July…
-The Doc
indeed. every time they have an iPod or Mac update/speed bump there are hordes of previous gen buyers that are disgruntled at missing out on the opportunity to buy an updated product at the same price as it was the day before it was launched. Apple doesn’t seem to care not to foreworn their userbase. the iPhone is the biggest product launch that Apple has ever had.
i can only assume that Supply & Demand has indeed droughted the stock of iPhones. i’m not saying that you won’t see one at an at&t or apple store, but thats all thats probably out there right now.
perhaps Apple underestimated how well they would sell and didn’t plan accordingly. which is weird considering how well marketed the iPhone is.
i doubt this is the same Supply & Demand drought that a product like the Wii has – remember there was no iPhone shortage on launch day. i waited in line with 300 other people that friday only for my coworkers to walk into the mall the sunday after to pick one up and walk out.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the date is towards the end of june – nearing the one year anniversary. This article pretty much supports this:
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9937632-37.html
Apple & Co. underestimated demand and what we’re seeing are the inevitable results. I highly doubt they would intentionally let a month or more pass with no product in the pipeline.
No Apple rep is going to tell you what or when for sure. Especially when they are on the clock, and the phone conversation is being monitored. Letting Joe-shmo know some inside details isn’t worth there job, they were being discreet!
As for when the exact date for the new iPhone there is no way a sales rep would even have the slightest idea when that date is. (Having been one for a very long time, that info doesn’t get “leaked” down that low.) Reps, and stores don’t find out until maybe a few days before. I’ve even been working and didn’t know a new product was going to be in until the boxes showed up that day. We will find out the exact date when good ‘ol Steve drops the bomb on June 9th. Just like every other time.
As for pulling iPhones off the shelves and not selling them I’m glad. I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing dumb apple fanboys complain that they just bought a product and “less then a month later Apple upgraded it!” You know what, if you are a true fanboy then you would know that something is coming out that’s better and you would wait!. Apple is smart in pulling stock, this way they don’t have to deal with the hoards of people who come back in two – three days after launch complaining that “I just bought this, and then you guys upgraded, I want to exchange this and get the better one.” It’s a waste of product and materials.
There’s a reason why I’m a true fan, not a fanboy but a fan. They are the best product on the market, and they are one of the smartest companies out there. They take care of there customers and keep you comin back for more.
Only ‘The Steve’ knows.
This sounds about right for an estimated shipping date. If the phones go on sale between the 12th and 15th, the shipping date for online orders will be later, and about a week later sounds reasonable. Apple simply can’t produce enough to stock its stores and fulfill online orders at the same time.
This isn’t big news.