iPhone 5 breaks pre-order sales record

Apple has declared that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 stands at 2 million in 24 hours, smashing all previous records...

In the first 24 hours of trade, Apple received more than two million orders for its new iPhone 5 smartphone, smashing their own prior record which was held by the iPhone 4S.

This amounts to more than double their previous milestone set in 2011. 

Forecasters are suggesting that by the time the weekend figures are tallied up, the numbers of iPhone 5 sales could hit 10 million.

Apple has taken pre-orders in nine major markets including America, Canada, France, Japan and the U.K. with in-store sales pencilled in for Friday September 21st. 

In an official press release released on Monday, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing said: "iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal.

"iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do."

Opening initially in the United States, the demand has far exceeded the supply meaning that some pre-order customers will have to wait until next month to receive their handset as sales are based on a first-come-first-served basis. 

The statement continued: "Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on September 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October." 

On Monday, Apple's shares reached a record high of nearly $700. Since the start of the year, the company's shares have risen by a whopping 70%. 

The latest model of iPhone was launched in San Francisco last week and features a taller build with a larger screen but is lighter and supports 4G.