If you are planning to line up at a retail store to buy the highly anticipated iPhone Duo on its official release day, you might want to reconsider your strategy. Employees working at Apple stores have reportedly been instructed to warn people against coming in for walk-in purchases. The internal message is clear: if you do not have a pre-order secured, you will probably leave empty-handed.
Retail workers discourage customers from showing up without an order
According to recent reports, store staff are advising people that there will likely be zero stock available for anyone simply walking into a retail location. Because of this expected shortage, workers have been told to actively discourage shoppers from arriving on launch day without an existing order. The technology giant wants to manage expectations and avoid disappointing buyers who wait in long lines for a device they cannot buy.
Instead of waiting outside a physical store, the official website suggests that people should check back for in-store pickup availability on October 24. However, that message does not guarantee that stores will actually receive any new shipments by that date. It simply gives people a timeline for when they might see local inventory updates.
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High demand and low supply push online deliveries into January
This shortage does not come as a major surprise. Many people expected low retail inventory because of early production challenges. On top of that, the company recently stated that consumer demand for the new folding iPhone has been extraordinary. The initial batch of online pre-orders sold out in just a few minutes.
If you try to buy the device online, the estimated shipping date stretches all the way into late January. Given these constraints, it will be very difficult to find one of these units in person for the foreseeable future. If you are curious about what makes the device so popular, you can read more about the seven hardware features that set it apart from older models.
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