"pre-order" musings...
Here's how the "pre-orders" for the iPhone 5 went down earlier today at 12.01am (PST), generally speaking...
- Apple Store got bum'rushed & offered reference #'s to those who couldn't get through; for those who got thru within the first hour and/or got a reference #, Apple accepted orders & offered a delivery date of 9/21 (1-week). Those who placed a "pre-order" after the initial rush (post ~1hr) received a delivery date of 9/28 (2-weeks), and now it's 3-weeks for such "pre-orders"
- AT&T Wireless site initially was boggy/lagging, but then all was fluid/smooth; all "pre-orders" were accepted (and are still being accepted) w/ a delivery date of 9/21; ETA for deliveries w/ a "pre-order" now are 14-21 days
- Verizon & Sprint sites accepted "pre-orders" w/o much if any issue, w/ a delivery date of 9/21; Verizon Wireless ETA for deliveries w/ a "pre-order" now are 9/26, Sprint is still showing 9/21
- B&M stores such a Best Buy, Radio Shack, Walmart, and possibly Target - all have been taking "pre-orders" since opening their doors today; likewise for retail stores for Apple, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint
- International markets experienced "pre-order" issues whether from Apple or carrier, generally all/most selling out inventory of "pre-order" units for 9/21 delivery.
My experience...
About an hour or so after the "pre-order" start, I tried the AT&T site & I was on the wait page for a bit w/o it updating/refreshing so I then tried the Apple Store site & I was able to place an order immediately. I got a 9/28 delivery date from Apple. During this time, the AT&T site opened-up but my order was already processed & I didn't want to mess w/ cancellation/re-ordering as it'd take time for the upgrade-eligibility to reset.
When I did a "pre-order" on the iPhone 4 from AT&T's site at it's release in June '10, I was able to enter an order but I never got an order verification / email confirmation at the end due to the site being overwhelmed, so I wasn't sure if the order went thru. Later in the following day, I got the confirmation. So, that was something I wanted to avoid this time w/ AT&T assuming they'd get overwhelmed. And it's likely others also assumed this so they wanted to just deal w/ the Apple Store site. Seems like they were ready this time, from all what I've heard/read.
