iPhone 5s Nears 100% Availability in Apple's U.S. Retail Stores

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster today issued a new research report claiming that supplies of the iPhone 5s in Apple's U.S. retail stores have reached "100% availability", showing that his survey of 60 locations revealed full availability of all color/capacity/carrier combinations.

Based on our own check of 120 stores, supplies are just slightly short of 100%, as we were able to find several locations lacking stock of a few combinations. The most frequently out of stock models were T-Mobile devices, which still posted 98.6% availability according to our survey. AT&T and Verizon each saw only two specific model/location combinations out of stock for 99.8% availability, while we found all Sprint models in stock at all surveyed stores.

Late last week, shipping estimates for the iPhone 5s on Apple's online stores improved to 1-3 business days, further signifying that Apple has essentially reached a balance of supply and demand. Only unlocked SIM-free models remain somewhat constrained following their appearance in the U.S. late last month, with new orders being quoted shipping estimates of 5-7 business days.