Apple's sold more than five million iPhone 5 handsets in three days
Like hot cakes
Apple has sold more than five million iPhone 5 handsets within three days of its launch.
This impressive figure (revealed in a press release from Apple, today) improves on lasts year's iPhone 4S opening weekend sales stats, which came in at a little over 4 million units.
Demand for the iPhone 5 was high from the moment the device was announced, with no less than 2 million pre-orders placed within 24 hours of availability.
In fact, Apple has been so swamped with pre-orders that some customers will have to wait until October before their handset arrives.
This momentum is expected to continue beyond the weekend, too, with analysts predicting iPhone 5 sales of 10-12 million units by the end of week one.
In the (pebble) blue corner...The Samsung Galaxy S III also enjoyed healthy pre-release attention, with 9 million handsets ordered before the device hit retail outlets.
However, Sammy's flagship phone didn't hit the 10 million sales mark until the end of July, some two months after its launch - sales which the iPhone 5 might achieve within a mere seven days.
In a press release, Apple CEO Tim Cook assured prospective iPhone 5 owners that "while we have sold out of our initial supply you can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date". Cheers, Tim.
