AT&T Feeling a Bit Overwhelmed with iPhone 4G

Since Apple & AT&T announced they'd be taking orders on Tuesday, the iPhone 4G has been hot. Maybe too hot.

And if you haven't yet placed an order on one, you better get busy. Yesterday, AT&T announced that it would temporarily suspend iPhone 4G orders. The phone company is the exclusive carrier of all Apple products, something many Apple product users are not too thrilled about, and leaves many wondering if AT&T will be able to handle the new iPhone 4G. AT&T says it will begin taking orders again when inventory increases. They company released a statement on Wednesday, saying, "We are working hard to bring the iPhone 4 to as many of our customers as soon as possible."

Between Apple & AT&T, over 600,000 orders were taken for the new phone in less than 24 hours. That's more than any other Apple product.

If you tried to get online or place an order through the phone on Tuesday, with either Apple or AT&T, you probably had a hard time getting through, or at the very least, your service was slow. Many customers complained about the trouble they had, something Apple should be used to at this point. The same thing happened with previous iPhone releases.

When calling Apple, customers received a message saying that due to high call volumes, they could not answer the call and asking them to please call back. The website crashed or took forever to get anywhere.

Apple did release a statement on Wednesday, saying, "We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock."

AT&T announced that its website saw over 13 million visitors, who were there to specifically check whether or not they were eligible for a phone upgrade. Any other day they usually have about one third as many. AT&T also said that their customers reported seeing the wrong information when logging into their accounts on Tuesday, but that didn't involve social security numbers, credit card info, or call log details.

But even with the issues, analysts say this is all good news for Apple. Orders have so far exceeded company expectations. And customers who can't get through are probably just going to try again, or even do what one man told the USA Today he did, hang up and go visit his local AT&T store. According to the USA Today, some customers took advantage of Apple's new Apple Store app that allows customers to buy and reserve in-store via the their iPhones and iPod Touches.

The iPhone 4 will start at $199 with a two year contract or upgrade. Its body is thinner, it has a higher-resolution display and two-way video calling. The hoopla surrounding the phone caused a rise of Apple stock of about $5.24.