Apple’s rapid international rollout of the new iPhone 5 has prompted analysts to upgrade their sales forecasts for the smartphone, with some suggesting it could sell almost twice as many in the opening weekend as the iPhone 4 two years ago.
Apple intends to launch the iPhone 5 in nine countries on September 21, including the US and UK, adding Hong Kong and Singapore to its opening-weekend line-up for the first time. Another 20 countries will follow a week later, including Poland and New Zealand.
“We are positively surprised that this iPhone rollout is Apple’s fastest yet,” analysts at Barclays said. They had expected constraints in suppliers’ capacity to ramp up production of components for the iPhone’s thinner touchscreen.