Activation issues aside, AT&T Mobility pleased with iPhone response

AT&T Mobility saw a few bumps in activations with the massive demand for the Apple Inc. iPhone, but analysts estimated that eager customers snapped up between 500,000 and 700,000 of the devices during its high-profile opening weekend-putting the device well on its way to meeting Steve Jobs’ estimate of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
AT&T Inc. spokeswoman Jenny Parker said the company is not sharing specific sales figures at this point, but that the company is “very, very pleased with the customer response to the iPhone” and that “nearly all” of AT&T’s 1,800 retail locations had sold out of the device.
Initial reviews of the device and customer reactions have been mostly positive, although some buyers did encounter trouble when they attempted to activate their iPhones through Apple’s iTunes program. The Wall Street Journal estimated that about 2% of customers experienced difficulty with activation.
Analyst Iain Gillott of IGR Inc. was one of the unlucky, trying to resolve activation issues through AT&T Mobility before getting bounced back and forth with Apple customer care and ultimately getting his iPhone activated about 48 hours after purchasing it-leaving him temporarily disenchanted, frustrated and ready to take it back.
“The only thing that stops me is that I love Apple products and everyone on the Web who has activated theirs loves it. Which makes it worse for those of us who are still waiting,” Gillott wrote, hours before his activation finally came through.
Parker noted that the “overwhelming majority” of iPhone buyers were able to activate their phones without problems, with only a “very small percentage” having difficulty.
“We have resolved nearly all of those situations and the issue is now essentially behind us,” Parker said.