"We've hired two thousand extra employees to deal with what we anticipate will be significant demand. We have give all of our employees, including those new ones, one hundred thousand hours of training so far. That's one hundred thousand hours, if my math is right, I think that works out to six hours per employee."
But the training was done without any hands-on experience with the iPhone. Until now…the devices have been kept under lock and key. About all of the hype… Siegel says the iPhone is a breakthrough…
"Somehow you have to encounter it. It is a huge presence. We think this is going to generate tremendous interest and tremendous demand. We've seen that kind of thing before. Think the Motorola Razr which we were the first to bring out. The iPhone could be even bigger than that. It's a big, big moment for the industry and certainly for AT&T."
Apple has predicted sales of the iPhone will reach ten million next year. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.