My iPhone Saga

I didn't buy the first version of the iPhone, as I am one who usually likes to wait for companies to work the kinks out of their first iteration of a new product. So I was eagerly awaiting the release of the new iPhone last week.

I drove by my local AT&T store early Friday morning, and saw a line starting to form. I can't be away from my trading screens sitting in line all morning, so I went to my office. I walked over there mid-morning, but the line was about 1-2 hours long, and an employee told me there were only 4 phones left.

The next morning, Saturday, I went back to that store and the line didn't look that bad, so I got in it. After nearly an hour, I had barely moved, and had to get on with my day (my kids were anxiously anticipating my return). Someone in line told me the lines at the Apple store were even longer.

I have called and stopped by 3 different AT&T stores this week, and they have been sold out of iPhones each time. The Apple store has them, but there is always an hour line, and they don't give out numbers, etc. Who has that kind of time?

I have to assume that Apple was production constrained, because they must realize they are missing out on tons of sales. The whole process is ridiculous, frustrating, and frankly annoying. To the notion that they do this on purpose, maybe they do. But the disarray of lines at the store are also taking away from Mac sales, etc, which are much more profitable for the company. So they should get a clue.

That said, I might bite the bullet after work today and actually wait in line at the Apple store near my house. We'll see.

long AAPL; short the iPhone rollout