iPhone 4 + Glitchy Launch = Huge Demand Anyway

iPhone 4 + Glitchy Launch = Huge Demand Anyway

iPhone 4 + Glitchy Launch = Huge Demand Anyway

Apple has taken orders for more than half a million next-gen iPhones despite numerous website errors and two AT&T security glitches exposing customers' personal data.

Now that's impressive.

Many customers itching for an iPhone 4 this week reported server failures when they attempted to pre-order the handset. In some instances, customers were even erroneously logged into other people's accounts through AT&T's website. Acknowledging the security glitch, AT&T temporarily suspended iPhone 4 preorders to resolve the problem.

The AT&T website error was the second embarrassing security snafu for the telecom company in a week. After the other one, the FBI launched an investigation into a security hole that exposed personal data on more than 100,000 3G iPad owners. Hackers revealed the exploit in an exclusive story reported by Gawker.

Still, despite recurring failures and frustrations, Apple and AT&T received 600,000 pre-orders of the iPhone 4, anyway. For context, Apple needed a month to sell 1 million units of its other flagship product, the iPad.

"It's clear there's extremely strong demand for this phone, and it's hard to even think of another phone that was introduced with so many pre-orders," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner of Altimeter. "This was from consumers who have never seen or touched the device — people who are willing to buy it essentially sight unseen."

"That means there's a tremendous trust in Apple and Apple products that consumers have, which competitors don't have and need to figure out how to get," he added.

In addition to the iPhone 4's new features – a higher-resolution display, a video-conferencing camera and a brandnew glass form factor – it was probably the sensational story behind leaking the iPhone 4 that helped drive its popularity, Gartenberg said.

Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, and despite the handset's early imperfections, it has snowballed into a phenomenal success that many tech companies are attempting to replicate. Google's Android platform is Apple's fiercest competitor: 100,000 Android devices are being activated each day, according to Google.

Yet the determination seen among iPhone fanatics remains unparalleled even by Google.

"Stayed up past midnight to order on Apple.com," iPhone customer Scott Schwartz said in Wired.com's forums. "FAIL. Tried to call the sales number. Dropped calls. (Ironic, since I was calling with iPhone/AT&T). Too many calls, got hung up on. FAIL. Tried at 20-minute intervals for hours in the morning at AT&T and Apple. FAIL. FAIL. Heard about Apple Store App. Downloaded it. Used it. Reserved phone in 60 seconds. WIN. I think this deployment deserves a big banner on a carrier that says 'Mission Accomplished.'"

"After four hours of attempts to use both the Apple and AT&T websites I was unable to pre-order my handsets," wrote Wired.com reader Ryan Lieber in an e-mail, who said he eventually drove to an AT&T store multiple times to preorder the iPhone 4. "We got back to the store around 6:45. The system goes down right in front of us. We wait for 90 minutes at the counter just to swipe the credit card. But it's done."

Apple and AT&T said iPhone 4 pre-orders exceeded their expectations: Pre-order sales were 10 times higher than the first day of pre-orders for the third-generation iPhone.

It's believable that they couldn't anticipate such a demand. But let's not forget that this is the fourth iPhone, and previous iPhone launches were botched by Apple and AT&T as well, with issues such as activation failures and a shoddy pre-order system.

Clearly, none of these headaches can take away from the shiny allure of Apple's iPhone.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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