iPhone4袭来 你订购了吗?

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Customers waiting to pay hundreds of dollars for Apple's new iPhone are finding supply restricted. Preorders, as they're called, began this week and demand far outstrips supply. Now, phones that were supposed to arrive next week will not be shipped until next month.

NPR's Wendy Kaufman has more.

WENDY KAUFMAN: More than 600,000 people have ordered the new iPhone. Its a staggeringly high number, and it caught Apple and AT&T off guard.

Yesterday, the telecommunications company said it would not take any new orders for a while. Another problem: some customers complained that when they logged on to their AT&T accounts they were able to see other subscriber's personal information. The company said it was investigating.

Pete Fader, a marketing expert at the Wharton School says this week's problems are just the latest that AT&T has had supporting the extremely popular smartphone.

Professor PETE FADER (Professor of Marketing; Co-Director, Wharton Interactive Media Initiative): It really is inexcusable that they've been so poor that managing this gift that's been handed to them.

KAUFMAN: The gift is the company's exclusive right to provide iPhone service. For its part, Apple acknowledges that many customers were turned away or gave up in frustration. Nonetheless, demand for the new phone remains strong. Fader says that reflects unshakeable product loyalty.

Prof. FADER: These issues don't deter people in the least. It's okay, Ill just have to keep trying, and that speaks volumes about the success of this product.

KAUFMAN: Not to mention, he adds, the success of the marketing behind it.

Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.