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Sprint is citing "overwhelming demand and limited supply" this afternoon as the reasons for a few delays in its Galaxy S III launch strategy, which will see 32GB pre-orders ship next week rather than on the anticipated June 21st launch date that it's sharing with several other American and Canadian carriers. As for the 16GB version, Sprint says it's "optimistic" that the phones "will be delivered by June 21 as anticipated" for those who've pre-ordered, but that there's a chance it may be a "day or two late" — for those who don't have a pre-order in, you'll only be able to get it this week by calling telesales. By all appearances, that means that Sprint expects to have no Galaxy S IIIs in stores to sell this week, but the situation should ease up by next week — a delay that the carrier calls "minor."
Here's the carrier's full statement:
Due to overwhelming demand and limited supply for Sprint's Samsung Galaxy S III, we are running a little behind on deliveries. The 16GB version of Samsung Galaxy S III device will be available in Web Sales and Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) beginning on Thursday, June 21. It will be in all remaining sales channels next week.
We are optimistic that we'll be shipping all Samsung Galaxy S III-16GB pre-orders this week and that they will be delivered by June 21 as anticipated. There is a chance, however, that we may be a day or two late. We anticipate shipping all Samsung Galaxy S III-32GB pre-orders next week. To check the status of your pre-order, please visit www.sprint.com/myorder.
We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate the patience of our customers as we work through this minor delay in availability. We know that many of you are eager to experience the next generation of the Samsung Galaxy series on the only network to provide unlimited data plans to new and existing customers. Should this situation change, we will continue to update this post as we have new information to share.
Meanwhile, TmoNews reports that T-Mobile's Galaxy S III launch will be restricted to just 29 markets on day one — June 21st — while the remainder of the country will get it a few days later on Wednesday, June 27th. "Customer demand will exceed the expected launch quantity available," T-Mobile says, which more or less echoes Sprint's sentiments.
