NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The Apple faithful who waited in line for the iPhone 3G will have to wait a little longer to use their new device.
Apple's iTunes activation server struggled to meet the demand from so many users signing on and eventually shut down. As a result, AT&T stores have been telling iPhone buyers to go home and sync with iTunes later in the day, according to AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel.
"Obviously, there's been overwhelming demand," he said.
Customers who buy an iPhone still need to sign up for a plan in the store. But in order to use the device, it must be activated through iTunes. The first few iPhones were switched on via iTunes kiosks in stores, but those kiosks have since shut down. A similar situation happened last year when iTunes went down because of the demands from so many activations.
Apple is working hard to resolve the problem, Siegel said.
Apple wasn't immediately available for comment.
The problem began early and resulted in even longer waits at Apple and AT&T stores. The various blogs have noted that original iPhone users can't sign on to upgrade to the latest 2.0 software - which offers corporate email capabilities, better security and the ability to run third-party programs. The problem is afflicting iTunes on an international scale, according to tech Web site Gizmodo.
Barron's Tech Trader Daily blog noted that the long lines and sell-outs amounted to another "retail mess" leaving a lot of consumers unhappy.
"It seems AT&T has accomplished the same disorganized operation as they did a year ago, when stores sold out with the first iPhone introduction," said Barron's Tiernan Ray, who waited in line for an iPhone but couldn't get one because the AT&T store was sold out. "Not so much selling out of stock, but not informing people waiting for hours about the gathering threat of disappointment...It seems reasonable to expect that a store knows its inventory level."
The early glitches haven't hurt demand. Siegel said AT&T was "thrilled with the results," but declined to give specific numbers or compare it to last year's first-day sales trends.
-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 11th July 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/32362.php