AT&T Inc, the exclusive United States mobile phone service for Apple Inc's iPhone 3G, said customers who order the device may have to wait three weeks to get one.
Filling orders for the new version of the handset, which can access the Internet at twice the speed of the original version, may take 10 to 21 days, AT&T spokesman Wes Warnock told Bloomberg News last Friday. He attributed the wait to "strong demand" for the handset.
Apple sold 1 million iPhones in their first three days on sale in the US and 20 other markets. AT&T is selling the iPhone at a loss at US$199, with plans to recoup the money over the terms of the mandatory two-year contract. The device may help AT&T win customers from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp as subscriber growth slows in the US.
Most AT&T stores have sold out of the device since its July 11 debut.
Verizon and Sprint have introduced their own more advanced devices to take on the iPhone, which combines a handset with the best-selling iPod media player.
