Apple shares slide after iPhone 5 sells 'only' 5 million

But even the record sales fell below sky-high expectations for the new device, sending Apple shares lower in early Wall Street trading.

 

In a statement Apple CEO Time Cook said the company was working to close the gap between supply and demand that has seen many customers having to wait up to a a month to receive their devices.

 

"While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date," he said in a statement. "We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone."   While the weekend's sales figures represent a 1 million unit gain on the iPhone 4s' sales a year ago, they fell sharply from analyst predictions of up to 10 million units sold over the weekend.

 

Adding to the disappointment was the fact that the launch included more locations than last year. This year's iPhone was simultaneouslylaunched in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Britain, whilst last year's launch did not include Hong Kong and Singapore.

 

Apple's stock opened 2 per cent lower Monday in Wall Street trading, but pared back the losses to 1.4 per cent by midday.//DPA