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"We have been working continuously with them to get as much stock for the UK as possible," O2 sales director Steve Shurrock wrote in an email to one customer. "Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries."

He said that he is confident that in time O2 will be able to meet demand, but at the moment it will only be able to supply a very small proportion of the 200,000 people who registered an interest on the O2 website. Shurrock added that, "it is likely that stock will be in very short supply for some weeks to come."

Such was the demand for the iPhone that O2's website collapsed under the strain when it began accepting orders at the beginning of this week. In a separate statement, O2 said that it had invested millions to increase order capacity to more than 250 times the normal rate.