iPhone 5 Release Date: Pre-Order Sales Set Record High, Leads to Apple Store Camp-Outs

Apple and AT & T have announced that pre-order sales for the highly-anticipated iPhone 5 reached an unexpected record high over the weekend, selling over 2 million devices in just a matter of 24 hours. With the in-store September 21 release date looming just over the horizon, some iPhone 5 fans have already taken to camping out in front of Apple stores in preparation for the 8 a.m. Friday debut.

According to Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller, "iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal." Many insiders within the Apple company are blown away by the record-shattering pre-order sales.  The iPhone 5 sale (which began on Friday, Sept. 14) more than doubled the one-day pre-order sales record previously set by the iPhone 4S.

Because of the unexpected iPhone 5 high-demand, Apple has announced that delivery times are anticipated to be pushed back: "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."

Meanwhile, some Apple enthusiasts in New York City and London have decided to camp out numerous days before the in-store iPhone 5 release in order to secure their purchase. As of Monday, numerous people were waiting outside NYC's iconic Fifth Avenue Apple store, and two men were settling down outside of the London store at Covenant Garden. However, many of these Apple early birds aren't camping out merely for their own iPhone 5 benefit - the two men in London are fundraising for cancer research in the U.K., and many people at the head of the line in NYC work for social media outlets, and are there to publicize their companies or tech blogs. 

According to AT & T, the iPhone 5 is the "fastest-selling iPhone Apple has ever offered." The popular iPhone-carrier service announced in a statement that, "customers ordered more iPhones from AT&T than any previous model both on its first day of preorders and over the weekend."

Have you ordered your iPhone 5 yet? Or do you plan on sticking it out until the device is available in stores (does the overnight Apple store camp out seem to interest anybody)? Or are many Mstarz readers content with their current cell phones... let us know in your comments below!