MobileMe, Apple’s replacement for its .Mac service, launched with stability issues, and now some subscribers have been without email for nearly a week thanks to server problems. According to Apple, a MobileMe email server began experiencing "serious issues" on July 18, and as July 24 the company is still trying to resolve the problem.

Apple is claiming the email issue is impacting about one percent of its MobileMe subscribers. Those subscribers aren’t able to send, receive, or view email through the MobileMe Web site or through email applications.

Some subscribers suffering from the inability to access their MobileMe email have found that at least some of their messages are still available. One TMO reader said "Oddly, my Sent Folder on MobileMe only has five emails: one from 2005, one from 2006, two from 2007, and one sent today to test the service. I wonder where the rest went?"

So far, Apple has been characteristically quiet about the problem, but is confirming that there is a problem. Subscribers that check MobileMe’s system status will see a statement from Apple that reads "1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. Service will be restored ASAP. We apologize for this service interruption and are working hard to resolve the problem."

After nearly a week of downtime, however, it’s unclear just how long it will take for Apple to restore email service to the alleged one percent that have been cut off.