At 12:30 pm on Saturday, the Chicago, Michigan Avenue Apple store had iPhones in stock.
I was planning to sit out the initial iPhone mayhem. For the Friday launch, I enjoyed the launch at my computer, reading online coverage. Saturday morning, I woke to reports that at the end of the Friday, most major markets still had iPhones in stock. So Saturday morning, I went down the the Chicago Apple store on Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile) to, if not purchase a iPhone, lay my hands upon one. The store was packed, with most people milling around the dozen or so floor-model iPhones. I waited behind a man for five minutes for him to release his grubby hands from the sexy device, but I grew bored and casually asked a passing Apple employee if there were any phones left in stock. Yes, there were. So, I purchased an 8 gb iPhone.
If iPhones are still available, this begs the question, are they just not selling? They are selling. There was a line of ten people in front of me who all were purchasing iPhones. There has not been any let up on sales as of Saturday afternoon in Chicago. It seems Apple is following through with their plan to send larger shipments to markets where the iPod is saturated, namely big cities. It's likely this is both a marketing and sales strategy. From a marketing perspective, someone carrying an iPhone on a train in a big city will likely draw the eyes and interest of fellow passengers, which is, essentially, free advertising. From a sales perspective, there is bigger interest for the device in cities with mass transportation systems, as people who drive cars are not as likely to need the use of the video and internet features during travel.
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