The iPhone 4 made its delayed debut in Korea yesterday, jamming Korea Telecom’s servers as tens of thousands of people tried to place orders.
The Korean telco registered 130,000 pre-orders in the first 13 hours of taking registration, it told the Korea Herald. Its online store almost fell over, resulting in delays ordering phones, AFP reported.
The handset is selling much quicker than the iPhone 3G S last year, which saw just 14,500 pre-orders in the first day.
KT plans to launch the iPhone next month and is taking pre-orders through its online ordering system and in its retail stores.
Korea was set to be one of the first markets for the iPhone 4’s international debut last month, but was dropped at the last minute because Apple couldn’t meet demand for shipments.
The company has sold over 850,000 iPhones in South Korea since the first-generation launch nine years ago, AP said.
Apple and AT&T took 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4 in its first day of sales in the US, a market with a population six times that of Korea.
The success of the launch could cause more problems for Apple's already strained supply chain. Supply for Apple's mobile devices is not expected to balance with demand until October, research firm Asymco has warned.
The strained supply impacted Apple's launch sales for the iPhone 4, which could have been as high as 2.5 million - compared to 1.7 million - without the limitation, according to a Kaufman Bros analyst.
But one constraint, the limited availability of display panels, is reportedly beginning to lift.
Analyst firm Susquehanna has raised its iPhone production forecast by over 4 million units as a result of healthier supply for iPhone displays, Street Insidersaid.
The firm lifted its sales forecasts for the iPhone line in the fourth quarter to 11.6 million, a 39% sequential increase.
KT's shares on the NYSE rose 2.6% in after-hours trading. Apple's Nasdaq stock is up $1.10 to $253.07.
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