Apple Inc's iPhone 3G is sold out at almost all the company's United States retail outlets, 10 days after Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs put the faster, cheaper upgrade of his mobile handset on the shelves.
Only three of 188 shops - in California, New York and New Hampshire - had phones available to sell yesterday, according to a tally posted on Apple's Website.
Apple, which has stores in 38 states, sold 1 million phones in the three days after the handset made its debut on July 11, Bloomberg News said.
Jobs began selling the iPhone 3G in 21 countries. He said he plans to offer the device in 70 markets this year, expanding its customer base among consumers and businesses and challenging Research In Motion Ltd's BlackBerry for the lead in the market for so-called smart phones. Smart phones offer Internet, e-mail and computer functions.
People around the world waited in line for days to be among the first buyers of the new phone.
AT&T Inc, Apple's exclusive partner in the US, said last week that nearly all its 2,000 stores were sold out and that customers who order the device may have to wait three weeks to get one.
Apple's partners in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan said most shops had exhausted inventories on the first day.
The company is seeking to widen its business beyond the iPod media player and Macintosh personal computers, which together account for about 75 percent of sales.
Jobs, 53, plans to sell 10 million iPhones this year to capture about 1 percent of the worldwide mobile market.
US customers must sign up for a two-year contract with AT&T, the largest US phone carrier, at the time of purchase. Contracts start at US$70 a month.
Apple will report financial results for the third quarter, which ended June 28, after US markets close yesterday.
