Soldout -- Engadget

soldout posts

Windows 7 pre-orders sell-out in Japan

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 29th 2009 at 3:07AM

Often companies will claim a "sellout" in order to hype incredible demand for its product. However, these claims are pointless without any firm numbers -- after all, there's a big difference between moving 100 and 100,000 units. Now we're getting word from Japan that the heavily discounted Windows 7 upgrades that went up for pre-order on Friday are sold-out. While no numbers are given, the 17 retailers involved in the pre-order sales, who presumably have no vested interest in trying to inflate perceptions on behalf of Microsoft, report sales as "considerable" and taking only 1.5 days (of the 10 days planned) to burn though the alloted inventory. A quick check on Amazon US and Canada shows the same pre-order prices we saw Friday. Still, it might be wise to take notice of the "while supplies last" disclaimer if you haven't already.

Update: Engadget Japanese tells us that the 30,000 copies were sold according to Microsoft.

AT&T's iPhone 3G S launch day pre-orders already sold out

by Paul Miller posted Jun 13th 2009 at 2:12PM

Bad news for folks hoping a pre-order would save them from that yearly camp out in front of their local Apple Store: iPhone 3G S pre-orders have sold out, and folks who are making new pre-orders are being told that they'll have to wait up to two weeks to get a phone. AT&T customers who do already have pre-orders in still have to line up at 7AM to nab a phone, but at least they've got a guaranteed slot if they show up, while the rest of the world will have to battle over remaining stock when Apple Stores open at 8AM and AT&T stores open to general customers at the same time. Looks like we might get a good riot or two out of this.

Update: AT&T just pinged us to clarify that it's still accepting pre-orders, but not for delivery on the 19th, and online pre-orders will be shipped directly to your home, so you actually don't have to hit up a store at all. But what fun is that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

1.5 million T-Mobile G1s already pre-ordered

by Darren Murph posted Oct 12th 2008 at 1:26AM

T-Mobile sold right out of its original allotment of G1 pre-orders quick, fast and in a hurry, and even the second round has been claimed in a flash. What's it all mean? It means that someone at T-Mobile and Google are sitting in a fancy restaurant in France sipping on the good stuff, and it also means that 1.5 million G1s have already been reserved for eager early adopters. In addition to that, another couple of million are all set to take the retail scene by storm later this month. In other words, folks are genuinely stoked about the possibilities of Android, and scads of 'em have already committed to the OS (and HTC's design, by extension) before even having a chance to toy around with it in person. No pressure at all, Google.

[Via Pulse2]

Is FlipStart closing up shop?

by Joshua Topolsky posted May 4th 2008 at 11:26PM

Look, we're not saying that FlipStart is on the way out, but when you only sell one product, put it on fire sale, and then your "store" page tells people that the stock of your device has been "sold out" and then directs them to a third-party retailer for accessories, well, things might not be looking so good.

[Thanks, Marke]

Bug Labs sells-out of initial inventory, founder pumped

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 27th 2008 at 3:03AM

The whole claim of a product sell-out is a bit dubious without any numbers to back up the boast. Was it 100 or 100,000 units sold? Nevertheless, Bug Labs has depleted its initial stock of Bugs. Those of you looking to get your hands on the open-source, modular hardware platform will have to wait until the next shipment in May. While most of the purchases went the way of tinkerers, about a third of the devices were surprisingly scooped up by corporations looking at Bug to possibly replace expensive, custom devices. At least that's how Bug Labs' founder, Peter Semmelhack spins it. Could be, or perhaps it's just the same compelling curiosity we all feel about Bug with a desire (read: R&D budget) to keep abreast of industry change? Regardless, good on ya Pete.

Jeff Bezos posts Kindle apology on Amazon's front page

by Joshua Topolsky posted Mar 20th 2008 at 11:35AM

Sure, Philippe Starck may not care for the Kindle, but an open letter posted on Amazon's front page suggests he's in the minority. We already knew that the company was having a difficult time filling orders, but we had no idea the wait for buyers would warrant what amounts to a public apology from Jeff Bezos. Apparently, the online superstore is drawing heat for six-week delays on delivery for some customers, and is scrambling to get itself into an "order today, ship today" scheme. The original release of the device sold out in just 5 1/2 hours says the letter, which might explain why no one is hacking it -- no one has it.

[Thanks, Michael]

MacBook Air selling out left and right?

by Ryan Block posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 3:14AM

It's hard to tell whether the MacBook Air is selling way beyond Apple's regular expectations or whether they just didn't make that many units (there's a difference, after all), but as Ars Technica points out, a cursory glance to Apple's MBA stock-checker shows the majority of Apple stores are plum out. Of course, the Cube sold pretty well in the early days too, only time will tell whether the machine actually has staying power. Something tells us Steve will have a thing or two to say about the Air's sales later this week, though.

Read - Ars points out the MBAs are oft sold out
Read - MacBook Air retail stock-checke

Nintendo establishes official raincheck program for Wii

by Darren Murph posted Dec 14th 2007 at 11:58AM

This one's just hitting the wires folks, but apparently, Nintendo has established an official raincheck program to somewhat alleviate the Wii shortage frustrations that are sure to overwhelm those scouting one for the holidays. Details are scant at the moment, but we do know that Nintendo of America will be partnering with GameStop to allow patient buyers to fork out $249 up front in exchange for a guaranteed Wii "by the end of January." We aren't told whether or not the program is effective immediately, but we'd certainly assume it is.

Update: We're hearing the program actually won't go into effect until next Friday. We'll keep you posted on anything official.

[Via Switched]

UGOBE's Pleo stock all dried up

by Darren Murph posted Jul 27th 2007 at 2:18AM

After the months on end of waiting anxiously for UGOBE to actually announce that the Pleo was more than a very lovable piece of vaporware, you'll now be forced to seek other vendors or wait even longer before receiving one of your own. Nary a month after pre-orders went live here in the US, UGOBE is now stating that it is all sold out of its own cash ~~cow~~ dino. Regrettably, we've no idea how long it'll be before the next batch hatches, but if yours is currently on backorder, give us a heads-up when the line starts rolling again, wouldya?

[Thanks, Robert]

GameStop/EB accepting Nintendo Wii pre-orders tomorrow

by Darren Murph posted Oct 12th 2006 at 3:05PM

Okay, considering there's already some crazy things happening on eBay, and knowing full well that PlayStation 3 consoles will undoubtedly be a hot commodity in a few ~~short~~ long weeks, you might just need to reevaluate those plans of waltzing into your favorite game shop on November 19th and leaving happy. Nintendo's Wii isn't that likely (right?) to be sold out everywhere come launch week, but for those who don't enjoy pressing their luck (or camping out in the cold), American GameStop's are indeed accepting pre-orders starting tomorrow, while Canadian venues start October 16th. We had good suspicion that things would pan out this way, and our pals at Joystiq are now reporting that GameStop newsletter subscribers have just received official word that $50 will quasi-guarantee you a shiny white box come launch day -- but only one unit per "household" can supposedly be claimed, and the company even warns that allocations are likely to vanish "within minutes." We weren't counting on this year's "budget console" playing hard to get, but if all these sudden reports of imminent scarcity are eventually proven accurate, maybe getting your name on that list wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

[Via Joystiq, thanks to everyone who sent this in]