Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones’s Supply Shortage A Reason To Worry?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seeing an acute shortage of its iPhone 5s. Demand has exceeded supply and customers are unable to buy the phones.

The scarcity is one reason why the company’s shares have plummeted nearly 10 percent from the highs it hit on September 21, when the new iPhones debuted on store shelves.

On Wednesday shares in the company were trading at about $640.91 a share.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster has been trying to buy an iPhone 5 by logging on to the Apple web site and reserving a phone for the next day, but has so far been unsuccessful.

While demand exceeding supply is always good news for a company, in this case it might not be so good as it means lost or delayed sales for the company.

The supply problems seem to stem a delay in the supply for new displays that Apple is using in the iPhone 5.

Those who log on to the Apple store online see a message showing shipping delay of 3 to 4 weeks for the new iPhone.

Analysts are starting to wonder when a customer will be just able to walk into a store and buy an iPhone.

In places like Hong Kong, stores have been reporting running out of stock of the iPhones, faster than they can replenish it.

Running out of stock could pose a new danger for Apple; impatient customers may well turn to other smartphones such as that of Samsung or Nokia.

Nokia two Lumia smartphones, which are launched a week before the Apple iPhone, are scheduled to go on sale in early November.