U.S. buyers snap up Apple's iPod on its first weekend
SAN FRANCISCO: The U.S. debut of Apple's iPhone drew thousands of shoppers over the weekend, emptying most of the inventory at AT&T and causing network glitches as the flood of customers began activating the device.
Profiteers tried to resell the handset on eBay and Craigslist.com for as much as $12,000.
Shoppers snapped up as many as 200,000 iPhones the first day after the device went on sale Friday, according to Global Equities Research.
While it was still available at all 164 Apple stores Saturday, AT&T said most of its 1,800 stores no longer had the phone in stock. AT&T is the only mobile-phone service that works with the iPhone.
"A lot of our stores have sold out," said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, and is the largest U.S. wireless service. "We're restoring our inventory as fast as we can."
The sales met the expectations of most analysts, giving Apple a foothold in the mobile-phone industry. The company's chief executive, Steve Jobs, is counting on the device to become Apple's third major source of revenue, alongside the iPod media player and the Macintosh computer.
The iPhone combines a Web-surfing phone with the iPod.
The highest price paid for the 464 iPhones that were sold on eBay as of mid-afternoon Saturday in New York was $10,000, in a "buy it now" auction that required the winner to submit payment within seven days, according to eBay Markeplace Research. On average, 1.62 bids were placed on each phone with the average price at $966.08; at least one reseller was asking for $12,000.
Some buyers had problems activating the phones because of the large number signing up at the same time, Siegel said. There also were delays switching customers from other carriers.
Apple stores sold an estimated 128,000 iPhones on the first day, while AT&T stores sold 72,000, said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with San Francisco-based Global Equities.
The stores stayed open until midnight June 29. Customers could buy one phone at AT&T's stores and two at Apple outlets.
There is a wait of two to four weeks for customers who order the phones online from Apple, according to the site.
Jobs said last week that Apple had tried to estimate demand and increased manufacturing.
"We've taken our best guess, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it ain't enough," Jobs said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Customers leave the Apple store of Fashion Valley, San Diego after waiting in line for hours for the iPhone.
An estimated 200,000 iPhones were sold in the US in the first few days of release. Over 400 of those have been put up for sale on the online auction site eBay, by individuals hoping to profit from the demand.

Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with San Francisco-based Global Equities, estimated Apple stores sold about 128,000 on the first day, while AT&T stores sold about 72,000.

The pre-release frenzy that preceded the coming of the iPhone was climaxed by hundreds of people camping outside many Apple stores across the United States.

The iPhone acts as a mobile phone, MP3 player, and wireless web browser/email client.