O2: 13,000 orders per second...


Macworld UK brings us the unfortunate tale of O2's erstwhile effort to get ahead of the 3G iPhone demand curve. In their attempt to squelch expectations by taking pre-orders for the device (and quickly selling out) servers buckled under the load as 13,000 orders per second flooded in.

"We had invested heavily to add a huge amount of additional capacity, 250 times its normal rate, and back-up systems. We tested this carefully in advance. The massive simultaneous crush exceeded even our worst case assumptions. Demand was at 13,000 orders per second. Frankly, we have to admit we just weren't prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is," the company said in a statement.

O2 also said that Apple has only been able to promise stock of a small percentage of the number of units the company expects to need on launch. It expects the device to be in short supply for weeks following the July 11 launch.

The European wireless carrier will offer the 3G iPhone for sale in 22 counties from Friday.

Apple Store


Further, O2 says that its own stores, as well as those of retail partner Carphone Warehouse, will on average only have a couple dozens units each with lines expected to begin at some locations well ahead of the 8:02am opening time.

Editor's note: How many people have been put off by this? Moreover, it seems unlikely that O2 will be able to recover from this mess quickly let alone gracefully.

The dark side of any red-hot social phenomena is that the mania might overwhelm and subdue the buzz...

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