iPhone 5 SA stock shortage addressed

After a shortage, network operators have finally received more stock of the iPhone 5

Jan Vermeulen

January 23, 2013

Vodacom and MTN stores should have stock of the iPhone 5 this week (ending 26 January 2013), with more stock arriving in the coming weeks, the network operators recently told MyBroadband.

Consumers complained towards the start of the month that none of the channels selling the iPhone 5 appeared to have any stock.

Vodacom said that it has been largely able to keep up with demand, but added that they did experience supply constraints specifically on the higher capacity 32GB and 64GB models of the iPhone 5.

“However, we’ve recently received stock of both the 32GB and 64GB which is now at stores and we’re expecting more stock to arrive in the next few weeks,” Vodacom said.

MTN SA’s head of product solutions, Mike Fairon, said that they expect the arrival of new stock at various MTN stores in the coming week.

“The high uptake of the iPhone 5 is not unique to MTN as demand for Apple cellphone devices, in most occasions, outweighs the supply,” Fairon explained. “We would urge our customers to visit their nearest MTN store to enquire about availability,” he added.

Cell C did not respond to queries on its iPhone 5 stock levels by the time of publication.