The Apple iPhone 5 was released in a blaze of publicity towards the end of September and as usual for any iPhone release, it flew off the shelves, both in stores and online. Only hours after its launch online orders were already pushed back from immediate shipping to delivery in three to four weeks. Although orders continue to be fulfilled it’s still the case that for many customers who ordered the iPhone 5 after the initial rush, the waiting agony goes on.

If you check out the US online Apple Store right now you’ll see that whichever carrier you attempt to order it with shows a two to three week wait. Meanwhile in the UK a look at the online Apple Store shows unlocked models, also with a two to three week wait. Previously we noted that when asking about availability of the iPhone 5 through various avenues it seemed to be much easier to find one on contract rather than unlocked and wonder if any readers have also experienced this.

From our own experience at Phones Review my colleague ordered the iPhone 5 via the UK Apple Store on October 14th and is still waiting and has now received an email saying it will arrive between November 24th and 26th, that’s quite a wait. In comments received to that earlier article we note that some readers are pretty frustrated about the length of time they’ve now been waiting for their iPhone 5 orders to arrive and we imagine many more consumers feel the same way.

Apple certainly needs to get on top of this situation right now or it may find that some customers have waited so long they decide their current phone is good enough. Worst still for Apple, customers may opt to go down the Android route as there are plenty of very impressive Android smartphones available without a wait, with the exception of the Nexus 4 as we detailed earlier today.

We’d really be interested to hear from readers about the iPhone 5 order wait. Are you still holding on for an order to arrive and consider you’ve been waiting for an inordinate amount of time? Have you had to wait longer than you were initially informed to get your hands on the iPhone 5? We’d certainly like to know so send us your comments and also what country you are from so we can see if the situation differs region by region.