Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is finally catching up with the current demand for the iPhone 5, which is a good thing considering the nearly-approaching holiday season.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and his team recently conducted checks at one hundred Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stores and shared their report. They discovered that the supply for AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) models have improved in a big way. They also noted that the Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) models have also caught up.
Munster explained, “As we get closer to the holiday, we believe consumers will likely have the ability to walk into an Apple Store and walk out with an iPhone 5 within the next two weeks.”
As of Tuesday evening, the AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) version was available in 82 percent of the stores, Verizon’s version was available in 72 percent of the stores, and Sprint’s version was available at 92 percent of the stores. They predict that in two weeks, customers will be able to purchase the iPhone 5 the same day at Apple stores.
Munster’s report also estimates that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will sell a total of 45 million units in the month of December, with a price target of $900. The Street has a similar prediction of 44 million units.
Yesterday, we reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has changed their expected shipping times from 2-3 weeks to 1-2 weeks. The reason for the slow catch-up? According to those who work at Foxconn Technology Co., Ltd. (TPE:2354), the iPhone 5 is hard to assemble. Whether that answer was true or not, the manufacturer is finally keeping up with the high demand.
This report should come as a relief to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fans who are hoping to purchase the iPhone 5 for the holidays. For the last two years, Apple has delivered a new smartphone in time for the busiest shopping season of the year. Even though this year they got a rocky start, now they are catching up with everything. Hopefully they will enjoy a large boom in sales within the next few weeks.
