Apple announced over 600,000 pre-orders for the upcoming iPhone 4 taken on its first day available. This was the largest number of pre-orders Apple and its carrier partners have ever taken in a single day and was far higher than anticipated, the company said. US operator AT&T said that iPhone 4 pre-orders were ten times higher than on the first day of orders for the iPhone 3G S a year ago. The high demand resulted in many order system malfunctions, and many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. Apple apologized to the customers who encountered difficulties, and said it hopes that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock. AT&T said it is suspending pre-orders in order to ensure inventory can meet all its existing orders for delivery on 24 June. The availability of additional inventory will determine whether it can resume taking pre-orders. In addition to the high pre-order sales, AT&T received on 15 June more than 13 million visits to its website by customers checking to see if they are eligible to upgrade to a new phone; that number is about three times higher than the previous record for eligibility upgrade checks in one day.
