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Apple: 600,000 iPhone preorders crashed systems

Apple said that the number of preorders was "far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions."
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Apple said Wednesday that it took more than 600,000 preorders for the iPhone 4 in one day.

In a statement (Techmeme), Apple said that the number of preorders was "far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions."

Apple then apologized for everyone that was turned away.

There's a good news, bad news situation here. First, it's good that Apple sold a lot of  iPhone 4 devices. In fact, it's already more than halfway to Piper Jaffray's estimates after a few hours.

The bad news: Apple's planning with its partners was too conservative and its capacity and IT systems fell short. AT&T also took a lot of heat on Tuesday.

Also: iPhone 4 pre-orders sell out; Apple bumps ship date for new orders

Indeed, AT&T said in a statement that it stopped taking preorders so it could meet demand.

iPhone 4 pre-order sales yesterday were 10-times higher than the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 3G S last year... Given this unprecedented demand and our current expectations for our iPhone 4 inventory levels when the device is available June 24, we're suspending pre-ordering today in order to fulfill the orders we've already received.

The availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking pre-orders.

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