Were iPhone 5 Launch Sales Limited By Supply?

We reported earlier that the iPhone 5 had sold five million units during launch weekend. This figure was significantly less than what analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray had predicted just days prior to the iPhone 5 release.

With the sales figures being made public, Munster has stated that the Cupertino company’s limited supply couldn’t meet up with public demand. In other words, Apple would have sold more iPhone 5 units if supply wasn’t a factor. Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets had a similar theory; stating a supply shortage.

Munster says the outcome would be different if pre-orders were added to the figure: (via AppleInsider)

Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said the sales shortfall is partially because he and others assumed Apple’s sales figures would include all phones that were preordered online. He believes that would add up to a million additional units to the total sales, as the company quickly sold out of launch-day stock.

Although sales weren’t as impressive as previously thought, Munster fully expects Apple to bounce back and sell 49 million iPhones during the December quarter.

Anyways, supply constraints obviously are an issue at this point. After just a week and a few days the shipping estimates for the iPhone 5 have reached three to four weeks. But for a company to sell five million units in a few day span is amazing regardless of the expectations.

Do you believe supply constraints factored into the “small” amount of sales over the weekend?

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