The iPhone 5s was yet another launch in the company’s history that almost immediately became unavailable, with consumers seeing October as the next available shipping date. This year’s introduction of offering iPhone 5s at a local Apple Retail Store pickup proved extremely popular with iPhone fans but stock levels – or the lack thereof – meant that the new option was almost instantly removed from Apple’s site. It now seems that some consumers are reporting that the local pickup option is now available again through the official Apple Online Store.
Being able to order the device online and then stroll down to the local physical Apple Retail outlet is clearly a benefit to a large portion of consumers. The hassle of fighting the shopping frenzy is removed, but it also allows a customer to order the device from the comfort of their own home and actually pick it up in person the same day without waiting for a delivery to arrive. Apple’s extremely low iPhone 5s stock level meant that the appealing option was removed from the site within 24 hours of going live, but although it is now making a re-appearance on the site, it still looks like the fruit company’s inventory of the 5s is still very limited.
The majority of individuals continuously refreshing the Apple website will still be dismayed to see that delivery is still scheduled for some time during October. All of the different color, storage and contract options in the official United Kingdom store come with the same October shipping date, but it appears that certain areas of the United States may actually have very limited stock within retail outlets. Apple’s plush Fifth Avenue Retail Store in New York currently shows as having a 16GB Space Gray Verizon iPhone 5s available for local pickup. Unfortunately, if you’re after the new Gold option then it looks like you’ll have to sit and wait patiently until October.
With more than 9 million iPhone 5s / 5c units flying off the shelves during the first weekend of availability and ongoing stock limitations, it certainly seems like Apple is onto yet another winner with this hardware. The integration of a fingerprint sensor to work alongside the Touch ID technology has definitely whet the appetites of consumers. We can only hope that stock levels improve soon so that those waiting can scratch their iPhone 5s itch.
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