iPhone 5 Now in Stock at Apple Stores, Online Times Drop

Ahead of the coveted and lucrative Christmas holiday shopping period, Apple's iPhone 5 is now in stock at the firm's stores, while the online waiting times have dropped.

A poll of 20 U.S. Apple Stores carried out by by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster found that the iPhone 5 is available for consumers. "We believe the iPhone 5 has finally reached a point where consumers can walk into an Apple Store and walk out with a phone," he said in a note to investors.

The 20 stores which were polled by the analyst confirmed that Verizon iPhone 5 handsets is now stock; the model has been in the shortest supply among the smartphone's three major U.S. carriers. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint showed more than 90 percent availability.

A Citi survey of 50 Apple Stores in the U.S., meanwhile, also found that the availability of the iPhone 5 has increased. 92 percent of the stores polled said the new iPhone was "widely available," with 90 percent saying it would be available for customers who wanted to purchase one in-store.

AT&T's stock stood at 88 percent of the stores called by the firm's analysts, with Verizon's iPhone available at 80 percent. Elsewhere, Apple's online store now displays a ship time of one week, which was previously a two to three week wait.

Apple's main manufacturing partner, Foxconn, had admitted that one of the reasons the iPhone 5 has been in short supply is due to the fact that it can't meet production demands, with the the product "the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled."

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