Apple Boosting Gold iPhone 5s Production Amid Strong Demand

Apple is asking its supply chain to increase production of gold iPhone 5s models by one-third amid strong launch-day demand, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Apple Inc. has asked its suppliers to increase production of the gold-colored iPhone 5S by an additional one-third after seeing strong demand, people familiar with the situation said. It isn’t clear whether there are currently supply constraints manufacturing the new iPhone.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

All iPhone 5s models have been seeing lengthy shipping estimates at or soon after the start of online orders, but gold models have been in the shortest supply, with the U.S. online store seeing shipping estimates rapidly slip to "October".

In-store supplies of gold models have also been limited, with some carrier partners and third-party retailers having no supply of gold models. Even Apple's own stores are in many cases reportedly very short on gold models.