Apple weekend iPhone 5 sales miss forecasts

Apple shipped just over five million iPhone 5s during the first three days of the handset's availability, rather fewer than one analyst forecast of eight million units, let alone another bullish prediction of ten million.

"While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly," said CEO Tim Cook.

"The majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are scheduled to be shipped in October," added his faceless PR-department employees.

Apple previously said it had take two million advance orders in the first 24 hours it was accepting them. That's double the number of iPhone 4S handsets pre-order in the equivalent timeframe, leading some folk to suggest first-weekend 4S shipments of four million would likewise increase by 100 per cent this time round.

Apple also said today, some 100 million iDevices - phones, tablets and video players - have been updated with iOS 6, which was released on Wednesday, 19 September. ®