Can AT&T handle the demand of the new iPhone 4? Can Apple? The most reworked version of the iPhone is set to hit stores June 24, with thousands of customers having already pre-ordered the device. But between the high demand and waning customer service, AT&T and Apple have already begun to crack under pressure.

Not only did AT&T have massive site issues for those ordering iPhones, but its call center eventually turned customers away all together. Apple has had a lot of angry customers to deal with as well, and aided in the overflow of calls to AT&T when it began redirecting customers to the service provider. Both AT&T and Apple have pushed back expected delivery dates, extending into July.

In the grand scheme of things, what’s a few extra days to wait for your iPhone? You still have the old one, right? And it still works. AT&T’s network is still iffy at best, so what’s the rush? Until AT&T puts some serious work into making its customers happy, the series of fails will leave an even more sour taste in their mouths. With Apple looking for other service providers to distribute the iPhone, AT&T will eventually have to find a way to please customers. Eventually. CNET notes AT&T’s part in its own mess, saying

“In many ways, AT&T has been a victim of its own success. The iPhone, which is built for accessing the Net, has been hugely popular, attracting scores of new customers with each device upgrade. It’s helped the company add millions of new customers every year since it was first introduced in 2007. But the iPhone has also created a tsunami of mobile data on the AT&T network, which has resulted in poor service for many iPhone customers throughout the country, especially in densely populated cities, such as New York City and San Francisco.”

While the iPad security breaches, downed website and dropped calls make AT&T look bad, the other phone companies and manufacturers get to looking a little more attractive. The ongoing issues between Apple and AT&T have merely added more fuel to competitors’ flames, driving them to create better mobile devices on better networks.

That’s the ideal, anyway. RIM is finally stepping up its game with BlackBerry and tablet research, while HTC gets bold with its desire to take a piece of the Apple pie. Nokia, on the other hand, continues to lose footing in the smart phone race, warning of lowered expectations for its performance this past quarter.

Ideal or real, smart phones has pushed the mobile industry to explore and expand. Most important is consumer appeal, and meeting those demands is a huge undertaking. Creating a marketplace around the consumer demand has caused a few growing pains along the way.