Apple and its carrier partners kicked off pre-orders for the iPhone 5 early this morning. Not surprisingly, there were a few glitches at first as customers descended upon Apple, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint to pre-order their iPhones. AT&T had the hardest time, with reports suggesting the carrier’s servers slowed to a crawl when the buying frenzy began. Apple also slowed, but quickly recovered.
Sales were brisk and iPhone 5 shipment dates at Apple’s online store quickly slipped from “delivery on September 21” to “shipping in 2 weeks.” As of this monring, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint were still selling iPhone 5 handsets for delivery on the launch date, but that status changed once the East Coast woke up and started ordering handsets.
By mid-day, AT&T shipping dates were pushed back 14-21 business days. Verizon also slipped and is now accepting order for phones that will deliver on September 26th. As of the writing of this post, Sprint still shows a delivery date of 9/21.
If you are getting an iPhone 5, did you pre-order your iPhone last night? Or will you brave the crowd on September 21? If you’re still looking to pre-order, Walmart is accepting pre-orders in store for pickup on Friday, September 21.