Early sales of Verizon iPhone suspended after record first day for carrier

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Verizon Wireless
has ended early ordering for Apple’s iPhone 4. Without releasing exact
numbers, the carrier on Friday said it had record first-day sales for
the phone.

Verizon suspended iPhone 4 sales Thursday night. First-day sales were limited to Verizon’s existing customers.

“This was an exciting day,” Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said in a news release Friday. “In just our first two hours, we had
already sold more phones than any first-day launch in our history.”

With heavy demand for the iPhone 4, numerous technology blogs reported that Verizon’s
website was overloaded for some customers, especially during the early
morning hours. Mead, however, said that “overall, it was a very good
day.”

“I am proud of our employees who worked tirelessly to strengthen and scale our systems,” he said.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White noted in an e-mail Friday that demand for the Verizon iPhone “was much stronger than originally expected.”

“We believe this is quite a statement around the pent-up demand from Verizon customers for the iPhone 4, and we believe this speaks to the potential trajectory of demand with Verizon
in 2011,” White wrote. “This also provides just another example of why
we believe the voracious appetite for Apple products is not yet
reflected in the stock price.”

In-person sales will begin at 7 a.m. Feb. 10 at Apple Stores and Verizon Wireless stores. The device also will be available at Best Buy and some Wal-Mart stores. Customers also can order online at the Apple or Verizon websites beginning Feb. 9.

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