Mark Gurman: Apple made a ‘major mistake’ with iPhone Duo pre-orders

Even though it knew the iPhone Duo would face “serious supply constraints” due to manufacturing issues, Apple opted to begin iPhone Duo pre-orders on Friday instead of waiting until it had more stock ready, according to BloombergIt’s Mark Gurman. In his To light up today’s newsletter, he called the decision a “major mistake.”

“Let me cut to the chase: Apple made a major mistake here,” he said. “The company knew there would be severe supply constraints, but it went ahead with the launch anyway, apparently prioritizing the desire to bring the device to market early in its first fiscal quarter over meeting demand. This will disappoint many of the early adopters most eager to buy it.”

Apple initially planned to launch the iPhone Duo in the United States and China only before expanding the device to other countries later, according to Gurman, but the company ultimately decided to launch pre-orders in more than 70 countries simultaneously.

Less than 30 minutes after pre-orders began, Apple’s estimated delivery dates for the iPhone Duo fell to around January 25 in most countries. However, Apple typically underpromises and overdelivers with its delivery dates, so I hope some customers end up seeing their shipping estimates increased at least slightly.