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It seems o2 are blaming Apple for a shortage of UK iPhone 3G stock. In an e-mail response to an inquiring customer, Steve Shurrock, sales director of o2 had the following to say,

“We have been working continuously with them [Apple] to get as much stock for the UK as possible. Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries.”

Shurrock goes onto say that he is confident that the volume of iPhones will increase over time and become sufficient for customer demand.

o2 had allowed pre-orders on Monday morning for the new iPhone 3G, but ran out of stock almost immediately, leaving many o2 customers angered; especially since the pre-order site crashed multiple times and left customers unable to order. Customers who ordered from the Carphone Warehouse site, who also supply the iPhone to the UK didn’t have much better luck; following successful orders, some customers received e-mails only after, telling them that the phone was out of stock.

Shurrock also says that of the hundreds of thousands of people who expressed interest in the iPhone 3G via o2’s website, only a “very small proportion” would get their hands on the phone on launch day.

It seems that stock in o2 and Carphone Warehouse stores will also be relatively low, with only a “few dozen” expected to be delivered to each store, and new shipments arriving only once a week. It seems there’s going to be a wealth of unhappy UK iPhone fans come Friday.

Via [MacNN] Product [iPhone