It comes down to supply and demand.
And apparently Apple didn’t have a large enough supply to meet pre-order demand.
Per The Mac Observer, Apple’s new iPhone 6 pre-orders have slipped from delivering on September 19th to a seven to ten day shipping delay. The delay means anyone who didn’t manage to pre-order their iPhone 6 before inventory ran out will have to wait about a week before seeing theirs, or stand in line this Friday morning at an Apple Store or one of the company’s retail partners.
The iPhone 6 is Apple’s new 4.7-inch smartphone. It ships with either 16GB, 64GB, or 128GB storage, an Apple-designed A8 processor, M8 motion sensing co-processor, improved graphics, 802.11ac WiFi, an 8MP camera with improved sensor, a redesigned body that matches the iPad Air and iPad mini, and more.
Apple’s new iPhone models were available for pre-order starting on Friday, September 12th, although most hopeful buyers were met with frustration because the company’s online store was unavailable for a few hours after the launch. The iPhone and iPad-based Apple Store app returned errors, too, leaving customers to try again in hopes of completing their order.
Once the online store came back to life, the iPhone 6 was still showing as available for September 19 delivery, although the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus was showing that it wouldn’t ship for up to a few weeks.
Apple announced Monday morning that it sold over 4 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones during the first 24 hours of pre-orders, setting a new record. The company said it sold through all of its pre-order inventory, but it will have phones available in stores this Friday for customers who want to be among the first to own the new models.
Lines have already started forming at some Apple retail locations and will likely continue to grow throughout the week.
Apple hasn’t said how many iPhones it built for the launch, so it’s hard to say whether they’ll be able to meet overall demand for the new handset.