Carphone Warehouse have apparently only received 16,000 iPhone 4 handsets and have requested that customers do not queue up on Thursday when the device launches.

A recent article from Matt Egan at pcadvisor.co.uk explains that a Carphone Warehouse member of staff has said that queuing for the Apple iPhone 4 could be a waste of time.

Even members of staff according to the unnamed member of staff have been informed that they themselves cannot purchase an iPhone 4 until further notice. Carphone Warehouse has apparently requested 60,000 iPhone 4 handsets and expected that they would receive roughly half that amount.

This news follows closely to the revelation from 02 which states only existing contract customers will be in a position to upgrade to the iPhone 4 on that network due to stock shortages. Apple have acknowledged that there is likely to be shortages as the fourth generation iPhone nears its June 24 release.