The success of pre-orders for the Verizon Wireless CDMA iPhone 4 is not being reflected in crowd scenes at stores. Earlier this week, some analysts estimated the carrier sold a half-million units through pre-orders, and, with retail store sales starting Thursday, sales of one million or more units are expected for the first week.
But, across the U.S., there were reports of relatively few customers lining up at retail stores. Some observers are wondering if the sales expectations have been far too optimistic. Others are noting that online ordering began Wednesday and, in many cities, the weather is extremely cold.
Thin Lines at Stores
The iPhone 4 designed to work on Verizon’s CDMA network went on sale at Apple and Verizon stores at 7 a.m. Thursday. Verizon said pre-orders exceeded all its previous smartphone launches, including the Droid and Droid X.
CNN found only eight people in line at Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City 15 minutes before the phone went on sale. Similarly, it reported only about a dozen people waiting in line at a nearby Verizon store.
In Atlanta, CNN said only about a dozen customers were lined up at a Verizon store, and an Apple store in San Francisco had no one waiting in line. Similar scenes were reported by CNN and other news services around the U.S.
Expectations of lines were ramped up because of the huge pre-order sales, and because iPhone and iPad launches have been famous for creating long lines.
Regardless of the week’s sales tally, other carriers are already reacting to the launch of Verizon’s iPhone. AT&T, which is transitioning from its position as the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S., is in a data-plan war with Verizon. For example, new AT&T customers who sign up to use a special Wi-Fi hot-spot…