If you thought you were going to walk into the Apple Store or place and order online for new Apple iPhone 6 and walk out with one in your hand you may be in for a surprise.
Apple said many customers may need to wait until next month for their new iPhones after a record 4 million preorders were taken online. The number more than doubled pre-orders on the iPhone 5 two years ago.
Deliveries of preorders will begin on Friday and will continue through October, however the company said demand had outstripped supply of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which feature larger screens and longer battery life.
This is good news for Apple stock owners.
“Assuming preorders are similar to the 40 percent of first weekend sales for the iPhone 5, this would imply iPhone 6/6Plus first weekend sales could be around 10 million,” Wells Fargo Securities analysts wrote in a note.
About 2 million pre-orders were received for the iPhone 5 in the first 24 hours after it went on sale in September 2012. Apple sold 5 million of these phones in the first weekend.
As was expected the new larger 5.5 inch plus models are in short supply already. The 4.7 inch version will be available for delivery on September 19.
AT&T Inc, Sprint Corp, T-Mobile US Inc, Verizon Wireless and some Apple authorized resellers will also start selling the phones on Friday.
Besides the long-awaited larger screen the new iPhone will come with a new payment service, “Apple Pay” which launches in the United States next month and allows users to pay for items in stores with their phones.
Apple (APPL) shares were up fractionally to $102.92 at midday.
