Today sees the launch of the Apple’s newest smartphone, the iPhone 4, much to the excitement on Apple fanboys and those who have a thirst to be first to own the latest and greatest smartphone. As with any Apple launch, demand nearly always outstrips supply, today being no exception.
Vodafone has already posted a message on its iPhone microsite, notifying customers that they’ve “sold everything we have at the moment” and there might be a very simple explanation as to why iPhone 4 units are already in such short supply.
According to a rumour circulating on Twitter, Apple were supposed to have delivered 60,000 iPhone 4 handsets ready for its UK release but in reality the number is thought to be closer to 16,000, leaving some outlets with a considerable shortage of devices than they had previously budgeted for.
Pocket-Lint snagged the tweets that started some of the rumours:
“Apple promised 60,000 iPhones to England for launch day. They apparently delivered 16,000. Good luck people queuing for one today!!”
The same person tweeted again:
“A colleague was told that by a customer service rep at Carphone Warehouse”.
Bad news for the people who are waiting in line outside stores to grab the new iPhone, only to be turned away when the handset sells out.
Updates on Twitter suggests there are more happy iPhone 4 owners than those who have failed to get a device. Perhaps customers are using the fact that Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U and o2 are all selling the device on launch day and shopping around to find a store with lots of stock left.
Have you had a problem securing your handset? Do you work for any of the major operators and know this rumour to be false? Let us know in the comments.
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