iPhone 5 shipping date moved by two weeks

Users who wish to get their hands on Apple’s new iPhone 5 by pre-ordering it online through the Apple online store will have to wait two weeks longer for their delivery.

Apple's new iPhone 5 (image: James Martin/CNET)

While the phone will be made available for walk-in consumers on 21 September in the U.S., France, the U.K., Germany and Australia, Apple decided to push back the shipping estimates for iPhone 5 pre-orders by two weeks – one hour after the iPhone 5 was added to the online store.
According to USAToday, “Apple had previously announced the iPhone 5 would be available online and in retail stores on 21 September, and customers could pre-order the phone online starting on 14 September. When the iPhone 5 page went live yesterday in the online store, the page noted that iPhones pre-ordered online would ship by 21 September”.
There has been no clear indication as to why the decision was made, but it took only 22 hours for the iPhone 4S to sell out on the online store, while the iPhone 4 sold out in two hours less, being snapped up in only 20 hours after being made available.
While the phone will only ship on 21 September when order through Apple’s online store, US mobile service providers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint reported that they will be delivering pre-orders done through their channels by 21 September.