Here’s Why the iPhone 5 Debut Was Crazy Huge

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has announced pre-orders of the iPhone 5 more than doubled the record set by the iPhone 4S last year, crossing 2 million units in the first 24 hours of availability. The company added that while the “majority of pre-orders” will be delivered on September 21, some orders will only be fulfilled in October because demand exceeded supply. The device will also be available at the retail stores of the company, its partner wireless providers, and some chosen external sellers as of September 21.

Don’t Miss: AT&T: iPhone 5 is a Record SMASHER.

“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said in the statement. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.”

The previous model, the iPhone 4S, crossed the 1 million in sales within the first 24 hours and its total sales exceeded 4 million over the launch weekend. It remained the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. until this August. Before that, the iPhone 4 had set a one-day sales record of 600,000 units.

The iPhone 5 is available through carriers AT&T (NYSE:T), Sprint (NYSE:S), and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) in the U.S., and can also be bought from select Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), and Target (NYSE:TGT) retail stores.

Apple is making the new phone available in nine countries on September 21, will add 22 new markets in the week after, and aims to reach 100 countries and 240 carriers by the end of the year.

The sixth-generation iPhone, unveiled last week, is slimmer, longer, and lighter that its predecessor, sports a faster processor, and is compatible with faster LTE networks.

Apple has been a huge winning stock pick for Wall St. Cheat Sheet Newsletter subscribers. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get more of our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.