Skyfire disappears from iTunes App Store due to technical difficulties (update: 'sold out')
Trying to get a copy of the Skyfire browser for your iOS device? You may not have much luck, as the pseudo-Flash-capable browser has just disappeared from iTunes App Stores around the globe, mere hours after its splashy debut. When we try to download it for ourselves in the United States we get the message immediately above, and RazorianFly readers are chiming in with reports that the app is no longer available in Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Spain and the UK.
We just pinged Skyfire for comment and they say it's not Apple's fault; demand for a Flash video workaround is apparently so high that the company's having server issues and decided to pull the app rather than introduce new users to a sub-par experience. Skyfire assures us that it's adding servers as quickly as it can, but didn't provide an ETA on when we might see the app once more.
Update: While we're not sure how an digital app can be "sold out," that's exactly what the company says happened to its $2.99 browser today -- after quickly becoming the top grossing app in the iTunes App Store, Skyfire is "temporarily not accepting new purchases" and says it will issue Facebook and Twitter status updates when the next batch of licenses is available. In other words, Skyfire's throttling the flow of purchases from now on. PR after the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Skyfire Becomes Top Grossing iPhone App in App Store and Sells Out of Inventory in Five Hours
Historic demand forces mobile browser to halt new sales and expand server capacity within hours of availability
Mountain View - Skyfire, the first iPhone browser that plays video designed for Adobe Flash Player, is announcing that they have sold out of inventory within five hours of its public launch.
Skyfire for iPhone has been received with overwhelming enthusiasm -- far beyond internal projections. The result: the company is currently sold out of its first batch of Skyfire for the iPhone and is temporarily not accepting new purchases. The company is working to increase capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the Apple App StoreSM soon.
Skyfire is assuring users that the app's sold out status was a temporary measure taken by Skyfire, and was not the decision of Apple, Inc., which has approved the app.
The app, previously available in the Apple App StoreSM for $2.99, bridges one major gap between Apple and Adobe technologies, enabling consumers to view millions of previously unavailable videos designed for Flash Player on Apple iOS devices.
The company which became the top grossing app in iTunes today ahead of popular titles like Angry Birds, experienced overwhelming consumer demand for its browser within hours of going live. The company is no stranger to consumer demand of its products as its Android browser generated over one million downloads in its first few months.
"Skyfire has historically generated high demand for its browser products but nothing like this," states Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck. "It was hard to predict consumer demand since this was our first paid app, but we were blown away by the demand and sales."
The company plans to open another batch of its iPhone application in the near future. It recommends interested customers follow the company on Twitter @skyfire or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GetSkyfire.iPhone for the new availability batch.
