1 million iPhone 3GS sales

Over 1 million units of the iPhone 3G S have been sold since Friday's launch, Apple claims. The millionth phone is said to have been sold by the end of Sunday, beating even optimistic early forecasts closer to 700,000. The figure also trumps the sales performance of the iPhone 3G, which sold a million units on its opening weekend, but required 21 countries instead of just eight.

Although underestimating sales figures by 250,000 to 500,000, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster notes that based on in-store traffic in New York City and Minneapolis, some 28 percent of people were switching to AT&T to pick up an iPhone this year. If accurate, the number is a decline from 38 percent in 2008, and 52 percent in 2007. AT&T's ability to draw people through the iPhone is shrinking, Munster comments.

Some 56 percent of those surveyed were said to have been upgrading from an older iPhone however, a jump from 38 percent last year, potentially indicating high brand loyalty. 43 percent were buying a 32GB 3G S, as compared to the 66 percent who opted for the previous highest capacity (16GB) with the 3G, and 95 percent who chose 8GB over 4GB with the first iPhone. 16GB appears to be the ideal capacity for many people, Munster suggests.

Also notable is that among the people buying their first iPhone, 12 percent were switching from a BlackBerry, up from 2008's 6 percent. Apple may be slowly gaining ground with business users, amongst whom BlackBerries are standard. Figures on Android, Palm, Symbian and Windows Mobile use have not been published.

In a tangential note, Apple comments that over 6 million people have downloaded the iPhone 3.0 firmware in five days.

by MacNN Staff