17 June 2010 | Author: J. Morton Search Copywriter

Apple iPhone 4 causes flood of orders and site overloads

Apple has racked up another victory of numbers as the company said it's already received 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4, the latest in its series of revolutionary smart phones. However, the success came at the cost of downing its exclusive US carrier.

"It was the largest number of preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions," the Cupertino-based firm said in a statement.

Systems affected by the influx of eager Apple fans included Apple's own website, as well as that of US carrier AT&T. In addition, AT&T's in-store ordering systems also took a hit.

The latest Jobsian device will be released 24 June in the US, UK and several other countries. However, due to demands for the device, the company has revised a timetable of pre-shipping dates, now saying they would be received by 14 July rather than the previously stated release date.

Industry analysts agree that the pre-order flood indicates that Apple still remains a force to be reckoned with in regards to the smart phone market, despite still competition from Android phones, HTC and Motorola.

However, some see the company's edge in the mobile realm dwindling in the future.

"The reality is that in the long term, the Android market share is going to catch up to Apple," Forrester analyst Charles Golvin told the New York Times. "When you have one device being sold to a smaller portion of the population, it's not going to compete as well as many devices from many vendors on multiple carriers."

Despite these speculations, the year has already been kind to Apple, with this latest news added to the runaway success of the iPad, released in April.