BusinessWeek: Apple to meet iPhone demand with 3 million units upon launch

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: June 07, 2007 - 03:10PM CT

Have you heard enough about (that damn) iPhone yet? I know I haven't. While people are getting geared up to wait in line for the iPhone come June 29, some of us still wonder: will waiting in line even be necessary? While many of us have a long list of reasons to believe that the answer is "yes" (starting from the implications that come from the words "all of Apple history"), there are now some reasons to think maybe not.

BusinessWeek is reporting that not one, but two sources have told them that Apple plans to have 3 million iPhones on hand upon launch. Apple, of course, will not comment on the numbers, and that's all the detail we get. 3 million is certainly nothing to sneeze at and would go against every instinct that every Mac user has developed over (at least) the last five to seven years. We're definitely used to waiting for our products (although we're still not happy about it).

Given that number, it would seem that nearly everyone who waits in line for an iPhone when it comes out should be able to get one, and then some. 3 million might even be a little bit of overkill, which would be a welcome change. Of course, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster predicts that Apple will sell all of 3.2 million iPhones in the entire year (well, half a year, anyway), so maybe Apple is hoping to break that record early. (Munster says he also expects Apple to sell 12.4 million iPhones in 2008 and a whopping 45 million in 2009.)

However, there's another reason why this rumor could be hooey. If there's going to be millions of iPhones on hand, why would AT&T allegedly be ramping up on staff to control the crowds on launch day? Sure, there'll be people in line and those people may need some babysitting. But if there are enough iPhones to go around, there won't be much of a mob to control, now will there?

Apple has already proven some sources right by launching the iPhone as late as humanly possible while still technically in the month of June. Will they prove them wrong when it comes to meeting demand? Like everything else, we'll just have to wait and see.