iPhone activations disappoint

Early AT&T's iPhone activation numbers disappoint investors and analysts.

I'm not sure what analysts were expecting from the two-day window of iPhone activations that fell at the end of the quarter for AT&T, but the numbers put out by AT&T fail to thrill.

Here's how the figures are being reported.  First, Bloomberg:

The iPhone activations were a "disappointment," Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster said in a research note. He estimated that Apple sold 200,000 iPhones in the two days to end the quarter. Analyst David Bailey of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had estimated that AT&T and Apple sold 700,000 iPhones in their first three-day weekend.

And here's a link to Reuters:

Apple Inc. shares slipped about 2 percent before the market opened on Tuesday after AT&T Inc. reported initial data on activations for Apple's iPhone that were disappointing to some investors.

"There is no upside surprise on the number," Shannon Cross, an analyst Cross Research, said of AT&T's initial iPhone activatations.

Sure, there are analysts who truly believe that Apple made a boneheaded decision in partnering exclusively with AT&T in the US, and AT&T did drop the ball on activations early on, but still, a two days is far to small a window to condemn AT&T's handling of the iPhone launch. But with everyone's eyes watching the iPhone's launch, both Apple and AT&T should expect to be punished for every small mistake.

Thoughts?