So, what did you have in the “how many iPhones is Apple going to sell in its first weekend” office pool? If your guess bordered on the conservative end, good job. Apple has just announced that they sold over 5 million iPhone 5s in its first weekend on the shelves.
Although that broke the previous record held by the iPhone 4S (4 million in its first three days), the total is on the low end of what some analysts were predicting. Initial demand led some to quickly suggests 6, 8 or even 10 million units would be sold in the first weekend.
As you may remember, the iPhone 5 shattered Apple’s record for first day pre-orders, topping 2 million. That doubled the record held by the iPhone 4S.
“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,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “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.”
As of right now, shipping dates on Apple’s site have slipped to 3-4 weeks. Apple claims that they have been able to ship the majority of pre-orders, but some customers will have to wait until October before their device ships.
The iPhone 5 will go on sale in a couple dozen more countries at the end of this week including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Also announced this morning: 100 million devices upgraded to iOS 6. That’s some pretty quick adoption, considering Apple has faced quite the backlash for their seemingly subpar maps app.