Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. said it will restrict iPhone sales to two phones a customer and require credit or debit card payment on those phones to discourage unauthorized resellers and maintain enough stock for the holidays.

``Customer response has been off the charts,'' Alan Hely, an Apple spokesman in the U.K., said in an e-mail. ``Limiting iPhone sales helps us ensure that there are enough iPhones for people who are shopping for themselves or buying a gift.''

Apple plans to start selling iPhones in the U.K. next month. People could buy as many as five iPhones a person and pay in cash before the policy was implemented Oct. 25. The limit and payment requirements will help discourage resales, Hely said.

More than 1.4 million iPhones were sold in the three months ended Sept. 29, topping Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs's forecast of 730,000, Apple said this week. About 270,000 were sold in the first two days after the product's June 29 debut.

To spur sales, Jobs cut the price of the multimedia iPhone by $200 last month to $399. Next year, Apple aims to sell 10 million of handsets, which also play music and videos.

The Associated Press first reported the sales limit and payment requirements yesterday.

Apple rose $1.92, or 1 percent, to $184.70 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares more than doubled this year and set a new all-time closing high of $186.16 on Oct. 23.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Riddell in Washington at Kriddell1@bloomberg.net .