Widespread iPhone shortages fuel 3G rumors

Apple's iPhone has gone missing from most retail shelves, fueling speculation
that the arrival a new version of the mobile device--possibly featuring support
for faster 3G wireless technology--is imminent.

Following last week's announcement by O2, the iPhone's exclusive service provider
in the U.K., that it had run
out of iPhones, U.S. customers reported similar shortages. Over the weekend,
Apple's online stores in both the U.S. and the U.K. listed the 8GB and 16GB
models of the handset as "currently unavailable."

"We are currently out of stock," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris
confirmed on Monday.

That goes for brick-and-mortar Apple Stores as well. Macworld called five Apple
Stores located across the U.S. The stores in New York, Chicago, San Francisco,
Cambridge, Mass., and Palo Alto, Calif., all confirmed that their iPhone offerings
had dried up.

"We don't have either [model]," said a sales representative at Apple's
flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City. "At this time we don't have
any info on when we'll get them." Sales personnel at other locations suggested
that additional iPhones could be in stock as early as Tuesday, though they strongly
suggested that customers call to confirm availability before heading to the
store.

U.S. customers looking for iPhones aren't totally locked out, however; Macworld
also contacted AT&T stores near each of the Apple Stores we polled. Four
of the five stores reported that they had both 8GB and 16GB iPhones in stock;
the AT&T store in Palo Alto only had 16GB phones available.

That's a contrast to the U.K., where iPhones are out of stock both through
Apple and its partners. Besides O2 reporting that it was out of iPhones, Carphone
Warehouse, a retail partner in the U.K., says that it's out of stock for both
models.

Signs began pointing to a constrained iPhone supplier in recent weeks. During
an April conference
call to discuss Apple's second-quarter earnings, Chief Operating Officer
Tim Cook acknowledged that the company's U.S. stores had been experiencing an
inventory shortfall earlier that month, which he attributed to higher than forecasted
demand in the post-holiday buying environment.

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