Apple on iPhone 5 Demand: “We’ve Been Completely Blown Away”

Late-sleeping early adopters may be unhappy to hear that preorder inventory of Apple’s new iPhone 5 has been depleted, but Apple’s pretty happy with the level of demand it’s seeing. “Preorders for iPhone 5 have been incredible,” Apple spokeswoman Nat Kerris told AllThingsD. “We’ve been completely blown away by the customer response.” Which was what you’d expect, considering ship time estimates slipped to two weeks just an hour after the iPhone 5 became available for preorder.

Kerris offered no hard sales numbers, but if this iPhone launch follows a pattern similar to those that preceded it, we’ll likely hear some next week.

For those who didn’t manage to preorder in time and still hope to have an iPhone 5 in hand on launch day, the device will be available for purchase on Friday, September 21, beginning at 8 am local time at Apple retail stores and through AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless. Meanwhile, customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date for iPhone 5.