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“Apple released its iPhone4 for pre-order. The phone’s actually going to be released later in the month, on June 24th. However, many consumers experienced difficulties on both Apple and AT&T’s website.”
Some are calling it the single-biggest day in cellphone history. 600,000 orders for the iPhone4. Despite sketchy reviews, early adopters jammed the Apple and AT&T websites, crashing them. Now some wonder if it’s over-the-top demand -- or underwhelming service -- that’s at the root of the problem.
We’re analyzing reaction from The New York Times, ComputerWorld, CNET, Trade The Trend, and MarketWatch.
New York Times’ blogger David Pogue says if AT&T blew this one, it has become the BP of cell phone carriers. But he also wonders if this isn’t Apple’s deliberate way of building hype.
“I mean, come on, people. This is our fourth annual go-round with new iPhone releases. Surely the surge of interest and popularity is no longer catching Apple or AT&T executives by surprise.”
ComputerWorld’s Jonny Evans, says Apple’s iPhone is now on pace to account for a tenth of the entire world’s 3G mobile data traffic -- within three years. Yet AT&T continues to undermine that progress.
“...why could Apple's carrier partner not ensure it was fully prepared for the launch of the product? ... AT&T has once again shown itself to be unprepared to match Apple's focus ....”
CNET’s Marguerite Reardon says, AT&T wasn’t just off it’s game -- it makes many wonder if it -- has -- game. Despite promises AT&T is upgrading its network...
“...it's fighting an uphill battle as growth in data usage outpaces its network expansion. In other words, building out its network is more like adding sandbags in a storm rather than constructing a dam.”
SmarTrend has Apple’s response, which was contrite.
“It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions.”
Even with the problems, demand isn’t dropping off. MarketWatch’s Therese Poletti says, this race to the new iPhone4 defies reason and logic, but hey, it’s all good.
“..the fans don't care -- they want to be first, no matter that the first-generation product is always the most expensive and prices drop soon thereafter, or that their shiny new toys may suffer the glitches that new technologies often experience.”
So what do you think of this latest glitch? Building hype? Or failing to understand the marketplace?
Get more multi-source tech news from Newsy.com.
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