iPhone 5S at local O2 not available on release day
We have some news today for UK consumers interested in buying the iPhone 5S on release day. The phone launches at Apple and other retailers on Friday, only two more days away. However, it seems that reports of shortages have been reinforced as we have been informed that the iPhone 5S at our local O2 store will not be available on release day.
In an earlier post today we told how US carriers have been disappointed at the major lack of inventory for the iPhone 5S release on September 20th. We wondered if this meant there would be a dearth of supplies in other regions too, and whether the lack of stock would only affect retailers other than Apple.
We cannot say whether this is a nationwide issue for the UK, but we thought we’d pop into our local O2 shop to see what the situation is there. If you are a potential customer for the iPhone 5S you’ll already know that pre-orders with Apple for the phone are not available.
At our local store we were told that we could order one and that doors of the O2 at Westwood Cross would open at 9:30 am on Friday. However, we were also told that the phone would not be available there for Friday but that we would be notified when it arrives in stock.
Although to some extent we always expect a new iPhone to sell very quickly on launch day, the majority of the time we’ve managed to get a new iPhone on the day if we’ve previously put our name down. That is evidently not the same for the iPhone 5S, although things could be different for the cheaper iPhone 5C, which launches on the same day.
Obviously this may not be the same state of affairs at every UK operator, but it certainly seems to be the case that it may be pretty difficult to get hold of the iPhone 5S on the big day itself. What’s more, our local O2 couldn’t say when units of the phone would arrive in stock.
We’d really like to get an idea of what the situation is around the UK regarding availability of the iPhone 5S. Have you been told by your local retailer that the phone will be available on Friday, or not? If you’re heading out on the day to try to get hold of the iPhone 5S, let us know if you’re successful? We’d appreciate your comments on this.
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8 thoughts on “iPhone 5S at local O2 not available on release day”
I contacted O2 and they have told me that the 5S would be only available online or over the phone, the agent was very helpful and also mentioned that going from previous releases of iPhone’s once it is out of stock it will not be available again for approx 2 months. Hope this information was useful for you.
O2 in Exeter advised they have no idea if they are receiving any stock or not, they haven’t been told anything. They did advise though that O2 have authorised Apple to carry out their upgrades for the new 5S to try and reduce demand on their own stock. Might help a few people out!
I went into two o2 stores in Manchester to talk about their refresh tariff, but they both said that the phone would only be available to pre order on Friday, not sell. Rang o2 customer services today and after 30 mins of waiting, I got through, and the woman I spoke to said that they had no idea of what stock would be like on Friday, till Friday….
I went into my local O2 store on Monday and was told that I could go into the O2 store to get the 5S but that I would be paying 50 pounds as a deposit on it, then they would call me when it came into stock at which point I would go down to the store to finalise my new contract details and actually get the phone. He said O2 don’t even know when they’ll be getting it, but that it would most likely be within the next week. I have a suspicion that they might have stock already on Friday (but can’t confirm publicly to avoid the shortages that could follow on release day) and just need to cover their bases in case there isn’t, but either way I’ll be going into store (fingers crossed that it will actually be there…it would be quite irritating to go in to only put a deposit down).
Same in Taunton. I Was told not to expect any stock on Friday but I could go in to pre order however they couldn’t say when they would be getting any in! It is just another of Apple’s ploys to get interest raised. Promise a new phone but don’t supply it then we have to play this game of ‘look up availabilty’ Arrgh it’s so frustrating! I’ve heard there will be an app for finding one after the 20th. REALLY. They have time enough to produce that but not supply the phones!
ee have plenty of stock. went into ee store today and they have assured me i can get on friday morning. Very excited. Apperently with EE I can now upgrade every 6 months. sounds too good to be true –
I’ve been told that O2 have huge stock issues and 5S will not be available in store on Friday, pre-orders will start instead. Its something to do with the finger print scanner and it causing shortages.
In Bridgend, South Wales was told that O2 would not have any of the iphone 5s available on the launch day but they would have the 5c, when I asked for an idea of when they would have the 5s I was told there was a waiting list of phone numbers and they currently had been given no delivery date