While you won’t be able to get your grubby little mitts on a sparkly new iPhone 4 until June 24th, pre-orders begin today. As announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at their annual WWDC 2010 developer’s conference, you will have your choice of white or black iPhone 4’s, in either 16GB ($199) or 32GB ($299) capacities. With such a short window between pre-orders and actual delivery, one thing Apple doesn’t appear worried about is a supply issue.
Apple is expecting sales of their latest iPhone to top 3 million units per month. With such an aggressive ramp-up, Apple must have a strong supply side strategy in place. Faced with inadequate supplies of their iPad tablet, this is likely an issue they would rather not have to face again with their iPhone 4 release.
Where can you pre-order? There are at least five options at this point and a decent mix of online-only and in-store options exist. Hit the jump for the run-down of in-store and online retailers as well as some further details on upgrade restrictions for existing AT&T customers.
• Best Buy (retail)
• The Shack (retail)
• Wal Mart (retail)
• The AT&T Wireless online store
Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores will start accepting pre-orders tomorrow at locations nationwide, with copies in hand and ready next week on June 24. Wal-Mart has indicated that some 1,500 stores nation-wide would be stocking the latest Apple iPhone, however it was unclear whether these stores would be taking pre-orders or whether they’d simply be selling the devices on launch day. Most AT&T stores are set to open at 7am on June 24 but you should call a day ahead to confirm when your local retailer opens.
Some interesting rules apply to both existing and new AT&T customers. For pre-existing AT&T customers, you can purchase one iPhone 4 for each AT&T phone number associated with your plan. New customers will only be able to purchase one new iPhone 4 per person. For those existing AT&T Wireless customers whose contract expires in 2010, upgrading to the new iPhone 4 should be seamless, however if your contract re-ups in 2011 or later, you are probably not eligible for an upgrade. Potential upgraders should check directly with AT&T Wireless to see whether these rules will prevent you from upgrading.
