AT&T has temporarily suspended pre-orders of the iPhone 4, after system problems Tuesday with processing orders for Apple's new phone resulted in confusion, frustration and possible data breaches.
Those who visited AT&T's website Wednesday to pre-order the device were greeted with the stark message: "Pre-orders for iPhone temporarily suspended."
"iPhone 4 pre-order sales yesterday were 10 times higher than the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 3G S last year," AT&T said in a statement. "Given this unprecedented demand and our current expectations for our iPhone 4 inventory levels when the device is available June 24, we’re suspending pre-ordering today in order to fulfill the orders we’ve already received."
The company said "the availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking pre-orders."
Apple, in a rare public statement, said the company and AT&T took pre-orders for more than 600,000 iPhone 4's on Tuesday, the first day of pre-orders.
"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," Apple said.
"Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock."
Yesterday brought "unprecedented pre-order sales," AT&T said, with "more than 13 million visits to AT&T’s website where customers can check to see if they are eligible to upgrade to a new phone; that number is about three times higher than the previous record for eligibility upgrade checks in one day."
Apple's website for iPhone pre-orders Wednesday appeared to be up and running, despite a deluge on Tuesday and slowness in getting through to the site. Apple's site was accepting orders only for black models — and not the white iPhone — and is guaranteeing shipment by July 2.
That means the long lines that have typified iPhone releases since 2007, when it first came out, will likely happen June 24.
AT&T is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States. The new phone, which includes video calling between iPhone 4 users, costs $299 for a 32-gigabyte model with a two-year AT&T contract, and $199 for a 16 GB model.
Troubles in meeting demand for the iPhone aren't new. But the latest apparent breach and other recent security foul-ups by AT&T could lead to identity theft — and have consequences for both companies. Customers have called for Apple to allow other carriers to serve the iPhone in the U.S., and the latest problems offer another argument.
Some customers who tried to buy an iPhone 4 on Tuesday said they were met with error messages on the company websites, and lines formed in stores as clerks tried to get orders into their systems.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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