Engadget seems to be suggesting that the supply is dwindling fast: http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/03/can-apple-meet-iphone-demand/

So prefacing this with the fact that I currently have a long list of reasons for having not gone out a bought an iPhone last week:

What does the current iPhone indie game development landscape look like? My AT&T Dev newsletter says wait for Apple to make the AJAX API announcement...and all their links point to a PR press release. Regardless of API, I'm curious about interface.

On one hand, I get the feeling that playing an iPhone game will be like playing a touch screen only DS game, but with a clunky stylus. On the other hand, the zoom, pinch, and pan features might make for some interesting controls- particularly in RTS-ish gameplay. All this being said, I've yet to do AJAX-only game dev so I really don't know the possibility space.

Well, I'm not a journalist, but I would like to highlight a couple major points that were sort of touched upon above, though not in too much detail.

First off, distribution. Apple is only selling iPhones through Apple Stores and AT&T stores. This means that if Apple made 1 million iPhones, those 1 million iPhones will be at one of two places, so each store can have a hundred units.

Nintendo, on the other hand, has to distribute Wii's through dozens of different retailers. Gamestop needs some, Wal-Mart needs some, and Target, Best Buy, and every other major retailer with an electronics line.

This means that if Nintendo makes 1 million Wii's, they have to be distributed through all these different places, which means each of the stores is going to have anywhere from, say, 2 to 20 units at launch. So if you were 21st in line, and in many places even 9th in line for a Wii, you didn't get one. Add to this the obvious fact that you have to provide units for Japan and Europe and that's a big problem. You try doing what Apple does and only let a couple stores carry your systems, and those who didn't get any are obviously going to boycott and/or sue you.

Second, there are a lot more people who use cel phones than who play videogames. Apparently, a half-million people weren't bothered by the $600 price tag for a cel phone, either, but maybe that number will change in six months.

Third, is it just me, or did a lot of the people lining up for an iPhone days in advance sound like the guys who camped out for PS3's?

I guess a big part of the puzzle is launch numbers, number of units sold, and percentage of units sold (US and worldwide). You get those values and you should be able to answer a few questions.