Apple That

Despite the fact that the Samsung Galaxy is the world’s best selling smartphone, demand for the iPhone 4SXL, I mean iPhone 5, is still through the roof. Demand was so high, as a matter of fact, that Apple’s production plants, specifically Foxconn, were unable to keep up with the demand, severely angering Apple. Thankfully (for Foxconn employees at least) it only took about two months for Apple to almost catch up with iPhone 5 demand.

One of the top Apple analysts for Piper Jaffray, Gene Munster, has been tracking iPhone 5 availability at 100 Apple Stores around the United States for the past month. In that time, Munster has reported that there have been significant improvements in the past 10 days.

As of Tuesday, iPhone 5 smartphones running on AT&T were in stock at 82% of Apple stores with 72% of Verizon stores having the device in stock and 92% of Sprint stores having the newest Apple handset. In addition to that, shipping times for customers ordering online have decreased to about two weeks after having been stuck at three to four weeks since the phone launched on September 21.

According to Munster, Apple is “nearing full availability” for the iPhone 5 just in time for the holidays. The iPhone 5 debuted exactly two months ago to much fanfare, despite it essentially being the iPhone 4S with a larger screen and 4G LTE connectivity.

However, opening weekend sales were lower than expected due to supply constraints. Since then, Apple’s stock of the phone has been hit by concerns that the company’s manufacturing partners are unable to produce the latest iPhone fast enough to keep up with consumer demand.

The biggest question that Apple is facing now is whether or not the increased availability of the iPhone is due to an increased productivity from Apple’s manufacturing plants or a decreased demand for the phone which, to be honest, wasn’t as revolutionary as people expected it to be.

Source: Mashable – Apple is Finally Catching Up to iPhone 5 Demand