iPhone shortage to last 2-4 weeks, hurting businesses?

The iPhone 3G was such a big hit that there were lines for the product even for a few days after it came out. This was bound to bring shortages, and it did. In fact, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster says, “I bet we’ll see these problems for another two to four weeks. Early demand has been more than they expected [because] they knocked it out of the park on the first weekend.” He may be on to something as Apple’s stock website is still showing low amounts in most places.

Mr. Munster says this low stock could be from unexpected, sustained demand for the iPhone, as last year there was only a large initial demand. “This is a more sustained outage, and the demand seems to be sustained,” he said. Furthermore, he points out that this year the iPhone was launched world wide, meaning less stock for the United States.

Details after the break.