Yes, but it’s not a pre-order because the product has already launched and other retailers are clearly getting additional stock. You would think MS wouldn’t want to be treating customers who order directly from them as second class citizens. I have no issue with waiting, but the lack of communication and information seems unprofessional for a company at Microsoft’s level.
I think the expectation that these would ship sooner has overstepped the fact that in production, you have a timeline and quota. I think they didn't make it clear enough that this round of Xboxes were a pre-order, or time slot, of what comes off production lines. They already had orders in from retailers long before that round, so the trickle we're seeing to retailers are representative of that.
That said, the expectation should be that these will arrive before Christmas and they have no further news as they're receiving stock to fulfill these orders all at once. When they have news to share, they will. Otherwise it is very much a waiting game, but I can understand impatience when everyone wants these as fast as possible.