canon 17-55 not selling?

B&H looks to have sold out its initial batch of 60 Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8's today. Took five days. I don't know how fast lenses in this price range (~$1200) normally sell, but that doesn't seem all that fast to me. Maybe I'm just used to Playstations that do millions of units in pre-order, but at a peak of twelve-a-day for the U.S.A. (neither Adorama nor Amazon had this in stock - Adorama got theirs today - while brick & mortars are rumored to be getting only two in their initial batch) it's going to take years for Canon to make good on its R&D bucks.

Possibly has something to do with the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 coming out almost simultaneously at just over one-third the price. Or maybe, like the clerks at my local camera stores, everybody is clueless as to the potential of this lens.