If the iPhone 5 sales have not yet rocketed to the heights stockholders had expected to, it’s definitely not because of inadequate demand. It’s more due to an ongoing deficit in supply. Two weeks after its retail launch, Apple’s latest iPhone remains tough to purchase from the market, with handsets ordered online displaying shipping times of three weeks to four weeks, and a number of Apple’s retail stores reporting low inventory.

Supply “EXTREMELY LIMITED”

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, an Apple bull if one ever existed, brushed aside 2.2 million units from his September iPhone forecast Thursday for exactly this reason. Munster’s team surveyed 100 U.S. Apple Stores over the past week and determined that the supply of iPhone 5 is “extremely limited.” Given that, Munster lowered his iPhone forecast for September from 27.2 million units to 25 million units.

Apple Should Be Able To Meet The Demand

However, Munster’s not yet prepared to take a dagger to the holiday quarter. By December, he believes, Apple should be able to meet the demand requirement for the iPhone 5, and when it eventually does, investors will finally witness those outrageously big sales for which they’ve all been hoping for. “While the supply issues for the iPhone 5 since launch are concerning in terms of the company’s ability to fully meet demand in December, we are staying with our 49 million unit estimate for the holiday quarter,” he said.

Therefore, supposing supply and demand for the iPhone 5 reach a balance in the subsequent month or so, Apple is going to be in a great position heading into the holidays. As Jefferies analyst Peter Misek perceives, currently, there merely aren’t enough iPhone 5s to go around. “Remember, there are 170 million post paid subscribers coming off contract,” Misek revealed. “That’s overwhelming all supply ramps. The demand here is unprecedented.”