European Online Apple Stores go offline ahead of iPhone 5s and 5c midnight sales [update: 5s supply limited]
AppleInsider StaffScreenshot of French Online Apple Store's "We'll be back" sign.
Apple's online storefronts recently went down in Europe in preparation of what is expected to be a deluge of orders for the company's new iPhone models, or more specifically the iPhone 5s.
Update: European online sales have started, and it appears stock for the iPhone 5s is just as low as Australia, with delivery dates showing 7 to 10 days.
At around 11:30 p.m. local London time, the UK Online Apple Store was taken down ahead of iPhone 5s and 5c preorders, with the site scheduled to be up and running for orders at midnight.
While customers have had a week to preorder the iPhone 5c, Apple chose to not do the same with the 5s, suggesting the device may be affected by supply constraints. A recent report claimed inventory of the flagship device will, at least in the U.S., be "grotesquely" low.
It remains to be seen how many iPhones Apple will sell over launch weekend, though analyst estimates range from 5 million all the way up to 8 million combined unit sales.
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