Apple: 'Trying to catch demand' on iPhones

Computerworld - Apple Inc. executives yesterday brushed off questions about iPhone shortages, saying they are "very pleased" with their efforts to ramp up production.

However, they gave no indication when the iPhone would again be widely available, other than to say that the company has slated Aug. 22 as the launch date for the smart phone in another 20 countries.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Apple's own stock-checking tool claimed that 31% of the company's 188 U.S. stores had one or more iPhone 3G models to sell, an uptick from Monday's tighter inventory, when just 23% of the stores reported the device in stock.

"As you say, there are a number of stock-outs," Tim Cook, Apple's chief financial officer, said in an earnings call with Wall Street analysts Monday afternoon as he answered a question about low inventories. "This is a factor of the overwhelming demand. I am very pleased with the production ramp, very pleased with the trajectory of it. We're shipping units as fast as we can and, obviously, we're trying to catch the demand and serve our customers."

Cook then announced that Apple plans to roll out the iPhone 3G in about 20 more countries on Aug. 22, although he did not name the markets. Currently, the iPhone 3G is available in 22 nations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.

Asked when stocks would be replenished, Cook refused to answer. "I am confident in our ability to supply," he said. "I am not going to predict when supply will meet demand. We've been selling the phone for 10 days, and so this is a very difficult thing to do with this level of data."

IPhones should be available at more of Apple's U.S. retail stores today than yesterday, according to the company's inventory tool, which would-be buyers can use to check local availability. As of 10:30 a.m. EDT, 59 stores, or 31.4% of all U.S. stores, showed the iPhone 3G in stock to some extent. That's the highest percentage of stores for the four days that Computerworld has checked availability in the past week.

Of the three models -- the 8GB black iPhone 3G and the 16GB in both white and black -- the $199 8GB is the easiest to find: 42 stores, or 22.3% of the total, reported it available.

Of the $299 16GB models, the white iPhone was in stock at 41 stores, or 21.8% of the total; the black 16GB phone was available at 32 stores, or 17% of the total.