Last week Apple’s Phil Schiller finally unveiled the iPhone 5, and on Friday, it goes on sale in the US and UK, along with 22 countries on Sept. 28. According to Apple, iPhone 5 reached over 2 million pre-orders in just 24 hours, thats more than twice as many pre-orders as the iPhone 4S got.
Michael Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said he believes the iPhone 5’s “differentiated form factor versus the iPhone 4S” and other improvements should drive strong iPhone 5 sales. The record advanced orders on Friday and through the weekend caused Walkley to revise his previous prediction that Apple would sell 6 million of the new iPhones by September 29. He now believes “Apple could ship 9 million to 10 million” in that time, he told investors in a note on Monday.
The iPhone 5 will be available in Apple 356 U.S. stores on Friday morning.