Ireland has officially run out of the latest model of the iPhone, with demand for the Apple gadget reaching unprecedented heights.

Customers who want to buy the iPhone 3GS have flooded internet forums with complaints that they are not available in any of the designated retailers.

A spokesman for O2 on Henry Street in Dublin said there is not one of the popular phones left anywhere in the country, after new stock which came in early last week was snapped up. Shops are now making waiting lists to put the phone – which sells for between €79 and €199, depending on the contract taken out – on hold.

A spokes­woman for the Carphone Warehouse, which also supplies the phone, said last week there was "no stock remain­ing in Dublin and three in remote locations in Ireland". The three, one each in Galway, Sligo and Tralee, have since been put on hold.

Apple iPhone spokes­woman Bethan Lloyd said she could not comment on the shortage in Ireland in particular, but that "carriers continue to receive stock each week".

An employee in the Carphone Warehouse who did not wish to be named has said up to 10 people come into the store every day looking to get hold of the iPhone.

"We are seeing a huge amount of enquiries, but there are currently no 32GB iPhone 3Gs available at all. There is a suggestion that the UK market, being much larger than Ireland's, is getting more priority.

"Also, there is a school of thought that they will only restock as soon as all the phones have been sold."

Speaking previously about the popularity of the iPhone, Apple's senior vice-president Peter Oppenheimer said, "We are currently unable to make enough iPhone 3GS to meet robust demand and we are working to address this."

New stock is expected to start coming back into Ireland by mid-September in advance of the Christmas shopping season.