Sad news for all of us who have not managed to purchase the 3G iPhone. Waiting for a week to let the crowd thin down was a bad idea after all. Jim Neal reports that 117 iPhone outlets have completely run out of stock. Out of the 188 iPhone outlets only 27 stores have all the 3 models and 44 stores have some models left (you don’t seem to have much choice here).

Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin stores are totally out of supply.

We are now left with no other choice, but to wait for the next shipment. No one is sure when this will happen. The best practice suggested for now is to follow the Apple directive to check availability after 9:00 pm, the night before you visit an Apple retail store. As the iPhone is sold on first come first serve basis, the best thing is to go at the crack of dawn to make sure that you get the iPhone when you do go out.

Make sure that you don’t ask too many questions at the counter about the number of iPhones in stock. The employees seem not to know or they just don’t want to give a hint to people in the line that some will be left out at the end of the day.