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Apple still can’t keep up with iPhone 5 demand

Published Nov 7th, 2012 12:15PM EST
iPhone 5 Sales 2012

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Apple (AAPL) launched the iPhone 5 about seven weeks ago and the sleek smartphone still isn’t easy to find on store shelves. The company sold more than 5 million new iPhones during the handset’s first weekend of availability and heavy demand has kept the phone in short supply. Shipping times quoted on Apple’s website for new orders remain at 3-4 weeks leading into the holiday shopping season, which could impact Apple’s December quarter. Why is it still so hard to buy an iPhone 5?

While we knew the iPhone 5 wasn’t easy for Apple’s manufacturing partner to build in the early days, Foxconn boss Terry Gou says his company is still having problems building enough iPhones to satisfy heavy global demand.

“It’s not easy to make the iPhones. We are falling short of meeting the huge demand,” Gou told Reuters on Wednesday. Rumors surfaced earlier that Apple had expanded iPhone 5 manufacturing to Foxconn subsidiary Foxconn International Holdings in order to increase supply, but Gou would not confirm the reports.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.