FILE-In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, file photo, a staff member of Apple Inc. shows the iPhone 5 to customers at the Apple store in Hong Kong. Apple Inc. said Monday Sept. 24 2012, that it has sold more than 5 million units of the new iPhone 5 in the three days since its launch, less than analysts had expected. Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
NEW YORK: Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 5 million iPhone 5s in the three days since its launch, fewer than analysts had expected, Associated Press Reported.
Apple shares fell $9.30, or 1.3 percent, to close at $690.79 on Monday. The shares hit an all-time high of $705.07 Friday as the phone went on sale in the U.S., Germany, France, Japan and five other countries.
The sales tally is a record for any phone, but it beats last year’s iPhone 4S launch only by a small margin. Apple said then that it sold 4 million phones in the first three days.
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White expected Apple to sell 6 million to 6.5 million iPhone 5s in the first three days. He said the shortfall was largely due to limited supply. White said the phone was sold out at 80 to 85 percent of the U.S. Apple stores he and his team contacted Sunday evening, and the ones that were still available were mostly Sprint models.
Online delivery times have stretched to three to four weeks.
Speaking on the impressive numbers, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated: “Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible.”, Techradar.com reported.
Following a flurry of pre-release iPhone 5 rumours which suggested Apple was struggling to meet manufacturing targets for its eagerly awaited handset, Cook has confirmed that the iPad 3 and 2012 iPod touch manufacturer has now sold out of launch stock for the HTC One X and Nokia Lumia 920 rival.
He said: “While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone.”
A testament to the must-have nature of the iPhone 5, Apple’s sales figures have eclipsed those of the handset’s closet rival, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Whilst the Samsung Galaxy S2 follow-on has become the Android handset of choice, Samsung revealed earlier this year that the quad-core handset took 100 days to reach the 20 million handset sales milestone, a marker the iPhone 5 is on track to reach in a matter of weeks.
Launching across nine global territories late last week, including the UK and US, iPhone 5 sales are expected to continue throughout the coming weeks with this Friday, September 28th, set to see the iPhone 4S replacement released across a further 22 countries. The iPhone 5 will be rolled out across more than 100 markets by the end of the year.