Apple limits iPhone 4S store sales to reservations only
updated 03:30 pm EDT, Mon October 17, 2011
iPhone 4S now reserve-only due to high demand
Signs Apple's stock of the iPhone 4S were running low manifested themselves Monday with a quiet update to its How To Buy page. Both the American and Canadian sites now tell visitors that the new iPhone is only available at retail "by reservation only" after 9PM. It had previously left the option of an on-the-spot purchase.
Apple hasn't yet run out at stores, although checks have suggested that the first batch may be near exhausted.
The change follows just on the heels of Apple said it had managed four million iPhone 4S sales over the weekend. That supply is only running low now may be an indication Apple was better prepared for the first wave of sales than it has been in the past, where it has often been out of any significant supply before the start of the regular week. Any sustained stock wouldn't be due to lack of demand as Apple sold more than double the amount it did at the iPhone 4 release.
Its sales rate will have been much faster than for Samsung, which took 55 days to reach three million Galaxy S II sales. Its decision to limit the Android phone to a handful of countries and a quieter launch may have led to relatively low demand until later in the year. [via MacRumors]
