Activation Problems in iPhone Paradise 434
Thomas Hawk writes "Unfortunately it appears that some activations of Apple's new iPhone have gone badly. After waiting in line 36 hours I'm still unable to activate my phone. I'm documenting the AT&T circus call by call on my blog. I've had my hold calls dropped, been patched into other users unable to activate their phone instead of AT&T customer service reps, been told that my wife must get a new phone and that the family plan can't work for me. I've been told that the problem is that I'm not putting a new chip into my iPhone in the slot on the left side of my phone when no slot there exists. PR Blogger Steve Rubel has also been documenting his problems on his Twitterstream. According to an unscientific poll being conducted by Engadget about half of the people who bought iPhones have had activation trouble with about 38% of problems still unresolved." Even the folks at MacWorld weren't immune to these issues.
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:5, Informative)
The Engadget Poll (Score:5, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Link to resolution of problem (Score:5, Informative)
http://thomashawk.com/2007/07/hot-donkey-after-36
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:5, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Link to resolution of problem (Score:5, Informative)
Oops, you quoted the wrong part, from the comments:
Re:i don't think "vast" is the right adjective (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A bit of perspective. (Score:2, Informative)
Before I comment on Apple's availability, it's interesting you say AT&T's website states that the iPhone is in stock, when there seems to be no way to check an AT&T retail store's personal stock (aside from AT&T putting out a news blurb that their retail stores are sold out). Buying from AT&T's website isn't a possibility, since they tell you to go to Apple.com, which is this link: http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy/ [apple.com] , which states you can only buy the iPhone at Apple's online store, Apple's retail stores, and AT&T's retail stores. Apple's stores still list ship times of 2-4 weeks. I'll just take it as a simple error on your part.
I don't doubt that you'll find Apple stores that aren't sold out. Analysts are showing figures of up to 1,000 iPhones per Apple retail store. With 168 retail stores, they have sold an estimated 128,000 units (not including AT&T store sales) on launch day. 168 stores times an estimated 1,000 units each gives about 168,000. source:Bloomberg [bloomberg.com] Piper Jaffray has said sales of 200,000 units at launch (AT&T and Apple) were expected and met. Also, most of the sold-out Apple retail stores are in California, where if you were to separate the state from the rest of United States, it would still have the 5th largest economy in the world. I'm sure Apple's smart enough to realize this and place more stock in the California stores.
For first weekend figures, I must say that's pretty good, especially for a $499/$599 phone on a non-holiday shopping season. That's over $100 million in revenue in a couple days. Apple retail stores that are currently out of stock have stated that they should be receiving shipments in constant intervals. Instead of an artificial shortage, Apple seems to actually be prepared for demand.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:A bit of perspective. (Score:5, Informative)
You think people are having problems now? A Piper Jay analyst said Apple has probably sold a half-million phones this weekend. I waited in line, then once inside the store, paid and had my phone in two minutes. Went to an WiFi-enabled restaurant nearby and was activated in three more, while I had some coffee.
So given that, the Apple store I went to processed an entire line of 200 people in an hour and a half, and I'd saw a quarter of those at least bought two phones.
Now. Picture a half-million people standing in line and having store employees REQUIRED to do all activations, transfers, credit checks, purchases, and all the other garbage usually associated with buying a phone, and now taking 10, 15, or even 20-minutes with each one. Now THAT would have been a disaster.
Re:I would emphasize the "unscientific" aspect (Score:3, Informative)
A couple of people, including me, mentioned it in the comments and Engadget should've changed it right away. Just another reason to question blogs as an authentic media source.
Not Surprising (Score:3, Informative)
Re:A bit of perspective. (Score:2, Informative)
-50% of users didn't report problems. 50% of poll respondents did. They're definitely not the same group in this poll. Reuters, a *reputable* news source not relying on an open poll, pegs the number at 2%.
-Off topic rant about proprietary software. There's no such thing as an "open" phone activation system, and presumably people want to use this as an iPod as well (which out of the box requires iTunes, too--alternatives for the iPhone post-activation can't be far off). Microsoft's fine wasn't for bundling. It was for bundling after being convicted of an illegal monopoly (key word: ILLEGAL, not just a simple monopoly, which Apple doesn't have in the first place).
- In store activations would have made lines move slower than molasses in January. Since 38% didn't actually have problems, it's a moot point, but assuming for a moment they did, 38% of activation problems is better than 100% having 5x the wait.
-"Activation of the iPhone is unnecessarily proprietary" just about sums up the ludicrous comment. Letting you do it yourself, on your own computer, is a time saver. Buying it to use on an unsupported platform is a pretty stupid thing to do, no matter how much you want the stupid thing. For 95% of computer owners, it poses no problem. It wasn't designed to work for the other 5%, so complaining that it's a hassle is kind of a "duh" moment.
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:3, Informative)
Perhaps you can escape the plan, but does that include an unlock code? Can you even unlock your iPhone?
Perhaps I'm spoilt from living in Europe. Most ~ $60 price plans would get you any phone for nothing or a small fee. That includes models like the Palm Treo 750, Blackberry models etc. We'll have to wait and see what happens when the iPhone appears in Europe. It wouldn't surprise me if Vodafone, O2 etc. engage in a little rape of their own if there are people dumb enough pay for one and sign up for a high contract.
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:4, Informative)
Because visual voice mail apparently required changes to AT&T's network. I doubt AT&T would've made that commitment if Apple were selling iPhones that could be used on T-moble as well (and vice-versa for T-mobile).
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:5, Informative)
I have trouble understanding why you were moderated insightful, since publicly available information disproves the second part of your hypothesis.
Total revenue for AT&T first quarter of this year was $28 million compared to $22 million for Verizon and much smaller numbers for others... Leader in market share for wireless at 27.1%
I think the more likely explanation is AT&T is much, much larger than any other GSM provider in the U.S. (As in more than twice as large... subscriber-wise). By far has the most GSM network infrastructure and bandwidth. I think the desperate hurting for money thesis is totally ludicrous.
I'm really interested in more info on what the nature of the activation issue is, so I'm disappointed that all the articles I read on it seem to be Apple fanboys saying "it definitely can't be Apple's fault, must be AT&T." But they don't provide any details... Most GSM phones don't need to be "activated" at all... put a(n appropriate) SIM card in and it works. What happens during activation? And before launch I heard that you'd be able to activate via iTunes at home... What happened to that?
Not true (Score:3, Informative)
The other thing the SIM thing is good for in the US is to switch phone within the same company. i.e. my wife and I are both with T-Mobile, and we decide to switch phone (and keep our respective numbers).
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:3, Informative)
Or maybe three if you don't hyphenate it or something =)
I recall a big deal about how Cingular had to make changes on their backend systems to be able to support this feature. The iPhone won't fully work on any system that doesn't have this functionality, and if it's not done exactly the same way, then there will have to be code changes and exceptions for each and every one.
Why exclusive? Call providers like that... it was probably the only way Apple could get one to carry it... the only way to guarantee enough revenue to make supporting this weird phone worthwhile
Re:I would emphasize the "unscientific" aspect (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/07/02/iphone.a
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19539747/ [msn.com]
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287638,00.htm
All linked off their main pages.
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/30/verizon_t
GSM coverage in the vast majority of the U.S. (Score:3, Informative)
Western Wireless was acquired [phonescoop.com] by Alltel [alltel.com].
AT&T recently acquired Dobson Communications [prnewswire.com] (which was the largest vendor licensing the Cellular One brand). I think that the "new AT&T" realizes that Verizon will kick their ass if they don't start competing on the coverage front. Nobody can touch Verizon in the U.S. for actually getting a wireless signal in more places.
The AT&T coverage map [att.com] is, ahem, optimistic, regarding its coverage in the plains states. The Dobson/Cellular One acquisition helps with this, but not with the rocky mountain states.
Here is a relatively honest assessment of GSM coverage in the western US: Cellular One coverage map [cellularone-slo.com] (includes the Dobson network and all the other mom-and-pop licensees of the Cellular One brand).
The Alltel coverage map [alltel.com] is also a little deceptive, because it mixes their GSM network in with their other network, but they provide much better GSM coverage in the west than anybody else, thanks to their acquisition of Western Wireless. Both T-Mobile and AT&T were asleep at the wheel and either should have acquired Western Wireless. It will be more difficult for AT&T to assemble a network which can rival Alltel or Verizon in the west. Fortunately, they are able to lease time on the Alltel network for their customers, as does T-Mobil. Oddly enough, Alltel does not provide GSM service to its own customers.
It's not clear that AT&T can fix this problem via acquisitions. Alltel already bought the company that AT&T should have acquired. What's left now is a whole bunch of relatively small players. AT&T will need to go on a major buying and building spree if they are really serious about providing nationwide cellular GSM coverage. They have been cherry picking the best (highest population density) markets for years, but they'll need to get serious about providing coverage to the rest of the country if they don't want the "I can't get an iPhone because AT&T doesn't offer service in my area" blogger chorus to drown out their efforts to promote the iPhone beyond the initial product launch. The stock valuations of AT&T and Alltel [nasdaq.com] are interesting, too. AT&T has brand recognition, but they are themselves possibly an acquisition candidate.
Re:Never saw it coming! (Score:1, Informative)
Confused yet? Just look at it this way, "The New AT&T" is 5/7th "The Old AT&T" That was broken up by the justice department for being a evil monopoly in the early 80's.