AT&T Suspends iPhone 4 Preorders Indefinitely

[Paul Daniel Ash]

AT&T has "temporarily suspended" iPhone 4 pre-orders, following reports of security breaches and long delays trying to process upgrade eligibility requests. When you click the "Pre-order" link on AT&T's website, you now get a pop-up displaying the message: "Pre-orders for iPhone temporarily suspended." Apple said more than 600,000 iPhone 4 preorders were placed yesterday, and blamed "system malfunctions" for the delay. AT&T says they don't know when they can start taking pre-orders again.

"iPhone 4 pre-order sales yesterday were 10 times higher than the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 3GS last year," AT&T said in the statement reported by AppleInsider. "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," they said, adding that "the availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking pre-orders."

Apple usually does not release specific sales numbers, so the announcement that said they and AT&T took pre-orders for over 600,000 iPhone 4s was unusual. "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," the statement said. It's not clear whether the 600,000 number includes pre-orders at retailers like RadioShack and Best Buy.

AT&T's announcement regarding the suspension notably did not refer to any fallout of security breaches experienced by some customers yesterday, which were attributed to a flawed server upgrade by "an AT&T insider" who wrote to Gizmodo.

[eg6motion]

wow, that's a lot of phones

[12jmartinez]

well good thing i got mine in early

[mmurphmsu]

Well I was gonna pre-order but I guess I will wait. Gives me extra time to get the money together for a Black 32GB

[Paingod]

AAw , in the keynote jobs said Luxembourg would get the Iphone4 on July. Let's hope it's not for july 2011
would be kinda disappointing that Apple wouldn't respect their promises.

[YourEntreeSolution]

Hopefully mine will be processed.

[swehbe]

just had my friend pre-order an unlocked iPhone for me on the french apple store! delivery is 24th of june. It seems Europeans are not as excited as Americans about the new iPhone!

Cheers!

[asap86]

order directly from apple.I just ordered two upgrades from apple.com.Apple's site is running smooth today.

[adp]

I called this over an hour ago...

AT&T - iPhone 4 Shipping in "2-3 Weeks"

Glad I got my preorder in yesterday.

[jdm.accord]

Got both mine very early yesterday. I was debating setting the alarm for 4am but glad I guessed right and glad I lost that sleep.

And if those of you bashing AT&T's "epic fail" and "fail this" blah blah blah really think Verizon or ANYONE else could have handled that demand/traffic you are smoking the really good stuff (hook me up lol).

Apple clearly underestimated demand again (iPad) which caused AT&T to get thrown into the fire by preparing for what Apple estimated. The "fail" starts with Apple if you must blame someone.

[screamforme02]

I wanted a white one any ways :P

[MetallicaFan1991]

None of the networks in UK have even announced prices yet!!!
I think it's first come first serve here and at shops only. I guess I'll be waiting till July

[StealthBravo]

Got both mine very early yesterday. I was debating setting the alarm for 4am but glad I guessed right and glad I lost that sleep.

And if those of you bashing AT&T's "epic fail" and "fail this" blah blah blah really think Verizon or ANYONE else could have handled that demand/traffic you are smoking the really good stuff (hook me up lol).

Apple clearly underestimated demand again (iPad) which caused AT&T to get thrown into the fire by preparing for what Apple estimated. The "fail" starts with Apple if you must blame someone.

I agree

[zozodouce]

go my from apple yesterday around 6 pm,i got the june 24 shipment lol.

[newskin]

My friend was a little upset when i told him att had suspended pre orders, but i told to just do it thru apple.com, they still taking them. Although i pre ordered yesterday but still haven't gotten my conformation email.

[Lefty-44]

Went to AT&T store yesterday, i could have pre-ordered, but i want the 32GB White one and the manager told me they are delayed and won't be available to anyone on the 24th launch and he didn't know when they would be available.

I was then going to just settle for a black 32GB, but then he told me there could be a 2-3 week delay in shipping it to either my house or their store so i said screw it and walked out.

I'll wait for the madness to end and get my 32GB White iPhone 4 when i can walk into a store and get it off the shelf i guess.

[turdsmoka]

Not surprising. i ordered a phone via their website, completed the order, saved the file and it was NOT processed, meaning no email to me, no evidence of an order on their website. No phone.

[mactwisted]

the pre-order process was a little harrowing, but i got thru around 11pm cst on apples site. i got the confirm e-mail at 1:30am cst. glad to be getting a phone 1st week of july...

[estes123]

glad i got mine went to the att store wait on line and got a confirmation email from att cant wait .............

[boxxa]

I believe the number. I know a ton of people that were pumped for this phone. Its a completely redone phone and now that smart phones are accepted in the general consumer market, its not surprising that this phone is already a hit.