iPhone 4 retail demand may exceed iPhone

Apple's retail reservations for the iPhone 4 could be as strong as its pre-orders, some leaked data from the company may have confirmed. While trying to avoid naming specific stores, the source said a "large" New York City store (likely 5th Avenue or SoHo) had over 2,200 reservations just on Tuesday. A pair of California stores had over 1,000 and over 1,400 reservations each, while BGR observed that even a "medium" Boston store had over 800 and a small Texas store had more than 900.

The numbers are large but even then aren't complete, as they don't include any reservations on subsequent days, stock set aside for on-the-spot purchases or any of the pre-orders due to arrive on June 24. As the data comes only from Apple, it also excludes AT&T, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Walmart, all of whom have pledged to carry the iPhone 4 on the same day.

Such figures lend support to early analyst estimates that have Apple moving as many as two million iPhones on launch weekend, as the device maker could near or pass one million sales on the first day.

By Electronista Staff