The latest numbers from Flurry are in and Mobilecrunch is reporting them as being huge.. for the iPod, anyway. The iPhone saw its usual small spike on Christmas day, as new phones were activated and apps were downloaded. The iPod, however, saw a 172% hockey-stick spike on the same day as new units hit the iTunes app store to download music and software.
Apple, who has to see some real goodness coming from this huge jump in sales, is then left scratching its head as the proprietary carrier for the iPhone (AT&T) removes all iPhones from its New York City online sales store.
Consumer complaints in recent months have reported numerous bouts of data congestion in the area of NYC for iPhone users. AT&T, in an apparent bid to combat the problem, has quietly removed iPhones from its website as a purchase option for those buying a new phone in the New York metro area. The Consumerist reports that this is true of all Big Apple-area ZIP codes.
According to AT&T’s customer service rep, New York isn’t ready for the iPhone.
Officially, of course, AT&T tells CNET that this is a “routine strategic decision.” Given the problems that the carrier has had with the 3G network in the past year and the huge growth of iPhone sales, however, it seems more likely that it’s AT&T who’s not really ready for the iPhone.
Given that the exclusivity contract they have with Apple as sole carrier of the phone’s network is coming up for negotiations soon, this also doesn’t bode well for their future. Especially with major industry magazines like PC World listing top reasons for iPhone customers hating AT&T.
With the pending release of the Google Nexus One, set to directly compete with the iPhone, and with the possibility that Apple could open up the iPhone to other networks, AT&T should be worried. Very worried.
