New iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Pushed to 3-4 Week Lead Time

It just wouldn't be an Apple product launch without a shortage of inventory to meet the frenzied demand, would it? The iPhone 5 is no exception. Apple's latest and greatest smartphone launches to retail two days from now -- September 21, 2012 -- but if you place your pre-order online, Apple says you can expect shipment in 3-4 weeks.

That's right, it could be a month before you get your hands on the iPhone 5, and by then, you can bet there will be at least one rumor about the iPhone 6. That time frame applies to orders placed in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Other territories -- U.K., France, and Germany -- still show an estimated ship time of 2-3 weeks.

iPhone 5 Preorder

Not surprisingly, the iPhone 5 ranks as Apple's hottest selling iPhone model to date. Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 topped 2 million in just 24 hours, which is twice as many as the iPhone 4S recorded when it debuted. It's also responsible for pushing Apple's share price to the highest it's ever been. Apple stock ended up at $701.91 per share at the end of the trading day yesterday, giving the Cupertino outfit an mind-boggling market capitalization of $657.97 billion.