Demand is high. Supply is low, really low. It’s only been just over two weeks since the launch of the iPhone 5 and getting your hands on one now is proving to be quite the challenge.
Investment bank and asset management firm, Piper Jaffray, had one of their analysts, Gene Munster, look into the numbers further. After surveying 100 U.S. Apple Stores over the past week, Munster concluded that the iPhone 5’s supply is still “extremely limited”.
Well, that sucks. It sucks for you because it means you’ll have to wait longer to get your new phone. But, it also sucks for Apple. It has resulted in Munster reducing his forecasted September iPhone sales numbers. If you’re not into the stock market you probably don’t really care. However, chopping the iPhone sales forecast numbers by 2.2 million is quite significant for investors. Shares of AAPL fell 1.40 percent to $657.66 in Friday’s session after recently hitting an all time high of $705.07.
The saving grace is the upcoming holiday period. Munster believes Apple will be able to catch up by December and investors will then see the big juicy numbers they’re been hoping for.
While the supply issues for the iPhone 5 since launch are concerning in terms of the company’s ability to fully meet demand in December, we are staying with our 49 million unit estimate for the holiday quarter.
Estimated shipping times for online order are still 3 to 4 weeks away.
Why is this happening, with this iPhone, you might be asking? Another analyst, Peter Misek from Jefferies, told All Things D that he thinks it’s because there are 170 million post paid subscribers coming off contract right now. “It’s overwhelming all supply ramps. The demand here is unprecedented,” Misek says.
This made me immediately think of Oliver Twist. I can see it now, Apple fans in raggedy clothing, dirt on their faces, begging at the big glass doors, “Please Apple, can we have some more iPhone 5s?”
Source: All Things D