Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has checked 20 Apple stores from across the country and he discovered quite a strange fact: the iPhone, Apple’s ultimate gadget that started a real mobile revolution, is sold out. When inquired by several press outlets about the shortages, Apple was ambiguous. It didn't want to comment further than:

"We are working to replenish iPhone supplies as quickly as we can," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement to several news sources. "Our stores continue to receive shipments almost every day." When further questioned on the matter, Dowling said that he cannot say anything beyond the statement.

While most people expect the shortage to be a way of clearing out non-3G iPhones from inventories in the United States, there seems to be a problem with this hypothesis too. A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. of Sanford C. Bernstein has found out that AT&T’s stores and Apple outlets outside of the United States have plenty of iPhones, The New York Times reports.

The 3G iPhone was expected more eagerly outside the country, which means that Apple should have cleared those inventories first or at least at the same time with those here in the US.

Bank of America analyst Scott Craig said in late March that Apple will start the 3G iPhone production this May, when it is expected to manufacture 3 million units, and reach 11 million units by September. Others expect Apple to unveil the 3G at the developer conference in June, at the same time with the software upgrades.

How badly does Apple need the 3G release? Pretty bad, analysts say, if they want to reach the 10 million units sold at the end of 2008. If sales haven’t been as high as expected so far, a 3G push could put it back in the spotlight.