iPhone 5 supply now stabilized in US Apple Stores

Since its initial launch in late September, iPhone 5 supply has been extremely limited. But Apple must have gotten past whatever production issue it was having, because shipping times for the handset recently started showing just one week out.

And apparently, availability is looking even better at Apple’s brick and mortar locations. According to a new poll conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, a number of Apple Stores now have nearly every model of the iPhone 5 on hand…

AppleInsider points to Munster’s note to investors :

“We believe the iPhone 5 has finally reached a point where consumers can walk into an Apple Store and walk out with a phone,” Munster said in a note to investors on Thursday.

The analyst performs a nightly check with the online Apple Store for local pick-up orders half an hour after new stock arrives at 100 locations. He also noted that 20 out of 20 Apple Stores polled showed availability for Verizon models, the supply of which has been the most constrained out of the three major U.S. carriers.

“The bottom line is that AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are consistently showing 90%+ availability,” Munster wrote.”

We can confirm that iPhone 5 stock is improving, particularly with Verizon. Employees with the carrier were recently given the green light to order the handset for their corporate-liable accounts, a common sign that supply of a device is no longer constrained.

This is obviously good news for Apple, who is attempting to have the iPhone 5 available in more than 100 countries by next month. And between early production issues and high demand, there was a time when it didn’t look like it was going to hit that goal.

And it needs to hit it if it hopes to have another blowout holiday quarter this year. Apple set a number of records during its Q4 last year, selling more than 37 million iPhones. Analysts are expecting the company to sell close to 50 million this time around.

Regardless, it looks like it’ll be easier for you to track down an iPhone 5 for that special someone this holiday season.