Apple iPhone 5 likely to spur record lines
Apple is "blown away" by consumer response to the next-generation of its popular smartphone, which sold
out for pre-orders in just minutes on Friday, spokeswoman Natalie Kerris says. And when iPhone 5 goes on
sale in stores later this week, analysts predict lines as long as the record queues seen for the iPhone's debut
in 2007.
"It will be a madhouse," says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.
Phones ordered online won't be delivered until Oct. 5 at the earliest, according to Apple's website.
And analysts say phones available at retail, starting at 8 a.m. Friday, will probably be sold out by
Sunday.
Munster projects sales of 6 million to 10 million iPhone 5s in the first week, most of which will be in
the Friday-Sunday time period. That compares to sales of 4 million of the iPhone 4S on its first
weekend last October.
Munster says the iPhone 5 probably won't be back in stock for weeks. "For the iPhone 4 and iPad 2,
they were gone after the first weekend, and there were lines for weeks afterwards," he says.
More at: usatoday.com
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