Ka Ching! Apple Sells a Million New iPhones–According to Steve Jobs
By Harry McCracken | Monday, June 22, 2009 at 7:06 am
If everyone who’s bought an iPhone 3G S so far had been lined up at one Apple Store, the line would have stretched…well, a really long way. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, known for his optimistic take on Apple, had initially predicted that Apple would sell a half-million units of the new iPhone on its opening long weekend. This morning, he said it had really sold 750,000. But then Apple released its own figure, and it was over one million 3 GS units sold. That would mean that the 3G S is a bigger hit so far than the Apple 3G was on its first weekend, when Apple said that it sold a million of ’em.
The number is impressively large, especially considering that many reports from Apple Stores emphasized that the lines weren’t as crazy as they’d been last year. The company says that the phone is available in 21 countries, versus 22 that got the 3G instantly, so that doesn’t explain the high sales and (relatively) short lines. But you had to show up in person to buy an iPhone 3G, and the 3G S can be bought over the Web and received via mail, so apparently a lot of folks snagged the 3G S without ever leaving their homes.
One other tidbit from Apple’s press release on sales for the 3G S–it contains a quote from Steve Jobs:
“Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”
Anyone who’s ever been quoted in a press release knows that it’s not the world’s most demanding activity. (Oftentimes a draft arrives on your desk with a “quote” from you already there.) But I believe this is the first time that Steve Jobs has been referenced in an Apple release since his medical leave began in January. Perhaps it’s a hint that his late-June return to work is indeed happening.
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June 24th, 2009 at 7:51 am[…] Unknown, but one analyst thinks maybe 500,000 One million in first three days […]
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June 22nd, 2009 at 7:42 am
“Oftentimes a draft arrives on your desk with a “quote” from you already there.”
Oftentimes???
If it is not 100% of the time, then someone is not doing their job.
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:09 am
I went to the local Apple store Friday at 6am and they came out and told everyone they had everything but the 32GB black 3GS in stock (of course – the one I wanted 🙂 … No worries, though, I ordered online from the store.apple.com site and it’s already shipped this morning from China. I’m pretty sure orders like mine are included in these figures.
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
YOU MEAN STEVE JOBS DIDN’T REALLY SAY THAT? I AM CRUSHED
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
There is “sold into the channel” and there is “in the hands of iPhone user or in the UPS, etc system heading to the user”.
It would really be nice if Apple would say which they mean.
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
@john baxter: good point–although claiming sales based on “stuffing the channel” would be REALLY tough for Apple, you’d hope–presumably there’s no way it can claim that a phone that’s been shipped to one of its own Apple Stores but not bought by a consumer has been “sold.”
–Harry