Apple's Iphone 5 sales figures fall short of analyst expectations

GADGET FLOGGER Apple has revealed that it sold five million Iphone 5 handsets over the weekend, beating the four million Iphone 4S handsets Apple shifted during its first weekend on sale.

While that sounds fairly impressive, today's announcement is likely to disappoint analysts who predicted that Apple would sell 10 million Iphone 5 devices over the weekend. However, Apple seems to think it would have sold more if it hadn't sold out of the smartphone.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook said, "Demand for Iphone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an Iphone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible.

"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. We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough Iphone 5s for everyone."

Apple added that demand exceeded its expectations, so those still waiting for their Iphone 5 handset will be able to get one in October.

Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa commented on the numbers. He told us, "People have been waiting for this phone for almost one year now, so I hope they are not going to be disappointed.

"Iphone sales will increasingly be generated by replacements and less and less by new users as the addressable market is approaching saturation.

"I expect sales of Iphone 5 to be spectacular mainly in North America, Northern Europe, Japan, Korea, and China to certain extent. However, I believe growth in other parts of the world including Southern Europe (e.g. Spain , Italy, Greece, and France to certain extent) to be very modest largely due to the economic downturn but also because of competition from more affordable and popular superphones in these regions."

What's more impressive than Apple's Iphone 5 sales figures is that 100 million devices have been updated to IOS 6 since the operating system's release on Wednesday, despite widespread criticism of the new Maps app.

Check out our IOS 6 review. µ