ATT puts tight controls on iPhone 4 launch

AT&T plans an even more ambitious launch for the iPhone 4 than for last year, if escaped release day plans remain intact. Stores will open at 7AM on June 24 for all customers, not just pre-orders as with last year. To keep supplies in check, the carrier is also imposing a hard limit of one iPhone of any kind for new customers and one per line for existing customers.

Specific AT&T promotion will also spike this year, the memo obtained by Engadget said. Staff will be given and encouraged to wear a shirt with the AT&T logo. Although intended to be reused for other special events in the future, they will all have a rainbow color scheme reminiscent both of AT&T's recent rebranding scheme and the classic Apple logo. Most stores in areas with AT&T's U-verse IPTV and Internet access will try to promote the services to customers, though some are being told to avoid promotion as long as there's a line of customers.

Most other details are in sync with previous launches. AT&T is forbidding staff from making reserve lists and from telling customers any precise updates on when stores can expect new stock or how many units will arrive.

The preparations confirm that neither Apple nor AT&T expects demand to slip despite the iPhone 4 representing the fourth iPhone launch and an increasingly saturated market; they may also be bracing for a shortage sooner where earlier launches didn't have similar urgency. Extra preparations to reinforce the brand may also be more important with unconfirmed rumors putting a Verizon iPhone in the fall, possibly leaving June 24 as AT&T's last major chance to use the iPhone as a bargaining chip while it promotes its other services.

By Electronista Staff