AT&T, Apple struggle with iPhone 4 demand

AT&T (NYSE: T) temporarily suspended pre orders of the iPhone 4 (NASDAQ: AAPL) on Tuesday because its network was overwhelmed by the demand, sending the blogosphere into a frenzy over the carrier's latest customer service woes. To complicate matters, some customers reportedly saw other customers' personal data when trying to log into their own accounts.  

As David Pogue at The New York Times pointed out, AT&T has had several years' worth of experience handling iPhone-mania, causing one to wonder how it was taken off guard. "This is our fourth annual go-round with new iPhone releases," Pogue wrote. "Surely the surge of interest and popularity is no longer catching Apple or AT&T executives by surprise."

Calling the incident "AT&T's epic iPhone 4 pre-order snafu," David Goldman at CNNMoney wrote that Apple has endured a long line of troubles in its arrangement with the carrier. Goldman cited analyst predictions that up to 40 percent of existing iPhone customers will switch to Verizon once it starts providing service for the Apple smartphone.

For more:
- see David Pogue's post at The New York Times
- see David Goldman's post at CNNMoney

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