From correspondents in California, United States, 08:30 AM IST

Apple's latest edition of the iPhone is matching the popularity of its predecessors.

The company, and its exclusive US carrier, AT and amp;T, said Monday that pre-orders of the phone had sold out, and that customers could face a wait of a week or two after launch day on Friday to get their coveted gizmos.

Apple announced the launch of the faster, larger capacity and more capable iPhone 3G S June 8 and gave customers the option of pre-ordering them over the Internet. A 16-gigabyte capacity phone costs $199 with a two-year contract, while the 32GB version costs $299.

Apple and AT and amp;T have not revealed how many pre-ordered iPhone 3G S handsets were sold, and some industry watchers think the companies will have a hard time matching the iPhone 3G's launch, which sold more than a million units in three days when it launched last year.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)