Apple was “blown away” by the response to the iPhone 5 and the company announced over two million iPhone 5 pre-orders in the first 24 hours of sale alone. Just within hours of the iPhone 5 going on sale, shipping estimates slipped to 2-3 weeks. Now, the shipping estimates have been pushed back to 3-4 weeks as Apple continues to see strong demand for the iPhone 5.
The new 3-4 week estimates are applicable for the United States, Canada, and Australia, while several other launch markets including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany remain at 2-3 weeks for the time being. These new shipping estimates would suggest that customers may or may not receive their devices until mid-October. Apple will without a doubt have reserved a stock for launch availability on launch day, but finding one in stock may prove to be difficult. Apple is expected to sell 6-10M iPhone 5s this opening weekend alone.