Online sales for iPhone 5 a sell-out Apple's new iPhone has already sold out online after chief executive Tim Cook unveiled the year's most hotly anticipated gadget on Wednesday. Buyers were able to pre-order the iPhone 5 online from midnight on Friday. Within hours, Apple's website told customers that they would have to wait two weeks to receive the gadget, suggesting the first batch of the new smartphone in the US has already been snapped up and setting the stage for round-the-block queues when it goes on sale in stores next Friday. This indication of high demand came despite a sniffy response to the device by many in the tech press, who saw improvements such as a longer screen, faster 4G wireless and a thinner and lighter body as incremental. Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, dismissed this reaction as a "media bubble," and said the quality of the iPhone 5 would see Apple reclaim the smartphone advantage from rivals Samsung and Google. Investors seemed to agree, sending the shares up to a new intraday high on Friday of $695.86. Wednesday's launch event - which also featured new iPods and a live performance by rock band the Foo Fighters - continued the familiar format pioneered by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Some of the razzmatazz was lost, however, due to leaks about the size and shape of the new iPhone. Despite promising to "double down on secrecy" earlier this year, Mr Cook has so far struggled to create the same level of surprise that was a hallmark of the Jobs era. Nonetheless, Mr Cook demonstrated his prowess in operations with the fastest international rollout of the iPhone yet, to 100 countries by year's end. Apple has also shown it can retain its price premium despite growing smartphone competition, with analyst Horace Dediu of Asymco noting that the lowest-priced iPhone without a contract now costs $450, up from $375 a year ago. Samsung has not taken the challenge from the iPhone 5 lightly. The South Korean company, which lost a US patent-infringement case against Apple in August, has continued to advertise its Galaxy SIII smartphone heavily during the iPhone launch week. Samsung's marketing push included buying ads that appear when users of Google and Bing search for iPhone. Galaxy SIII ads were also targeted to Apple fans on Twitter, with Samsung's "Promoted Tweets" appearing when users of the social media site clicked on "iPhone" in its "trending topics" section or searched through tweets for the new smartphone.