iPhone shortage hits Australia – here are three alternatives

Apple is struggling to keep up with demand for the new iPhone 3GS, with customers complaining of wait times of several weeks for the popular gadget.

But the iPhone drought isn’t doing the company much harm and could potentially increase the value of its brand, a leading telco analyst says.

The iPhone 3GS model launched on 26 June with four carriers selling the device, but they have since run out of stock. VHA’s “3” brand launched the iPhone on 17 July, but it claims to have sold out shortly after the launch date.

The blame for the shortage has been laid on Apple, with Telstra even saying the lack of stock is due to a “global shortage” of iPhones.

An Optus spokesperson says the iPhone is “proving to be popular with customers”.

“We recommend customers contact their local store or visit our online store to check stock availability.”

Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook has said in a statement that although the company pledges to update carriers with new stock as it is ready, it cannot keep up with “tremendous” demand.

“We are currently unable to make enough iPhone 3GSs… and we’re working to address this,” he said in a statement.

Many customers are become increasingly frustrated at the lengthy waiting period, but Ovum analyst Nathan Burley says the dilemma could actually deliver some positives for the company.

“Obviously they want to make sure there is stock available for people to purchase when they want a device, and surely there’s a small amount of people who need a device and will go and buy something else, but there are obviously some positives here.”

“Part of the problem with the iPhone is that it’s now making Apple more of a mass-market brand. If you do have an iPhone, you’re no longer special to some degree, because every second person has one. This has benefits in terms of reinforcing that exclusive reputation they have with the brand. That having been said, they are a new player and they’re shipping more handsets than they ever have before.”

Meanwhile, if you’re fed up with waiting for your iPhone, here are three alternatives to consider:

Nokia N97

This gadget is about the same size as the iPhone and contains many of the same features. A 3.5-inch touchscreen, up to 48GB of expandable memory with a flash card, 5-megapixel camera, various media format playback features and Wi-Fi capability.

It also features a GPS chip and video capture capabilities. And with Nokia’s Ovi Store now open, you can also download and use apps just like the iPhone.

BlackBerry Bold

BlackBerry remains the iPhone’s main competitor. This model features a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 2 megapixel camera and a microSD slot.

Along with regular BlackBerry features such as “push” email, (which requires just an email address and password for automatic set-up), this phone will enable its users to download apps from the BlackBerry App World.

HTC Touch Diamond

This touch-screen phone comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 3-megapixel camera and uses the Windows Mobile 6.1 software. While the battery life is a little weaker than some of its competitors, analysts have praised its ease of use and crisp video quality for media playback.