1m iPhone customers?

Confirming that Apple's iPhone is expected to available at the end of June, AT&T executives made some positive comments about Apple's first entry into the mobile phone market and said the company has over 1 million customers waiting to buy the device. Countering recent rumors of iPhone software snags, a senior executive with the largest US carrier said that testing has been going well and that it expects strong sales of Apple's iPhone. Apple's has diverted many of its internal resources to help build, test, and launch the iPhone, leading to the delay of its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Ahead of the much-anticipated release, iPhone knockoffs are already appearing on Chinese websites.

"Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June."

While in Boston to speak at a Boston College Chief Executives' Club luncheon, Stephenson told Reuters that more than 1 million customers have said that they would like to buy one of the phones when they're available for purchase, but said he was not sure how many iPhones will be available at launch.

"We're sorting through that right now," he said. "We got a million people waiting to buy it so we're hoping we get a million."

AT&T is the exclusive carrier in the US, while recent reports indicate that Vodafone is mostly likely to carry the device in Europe.

Earlier on Wednesday, reports emerged that Sling Media has actively discussed the possibility of streaming media to its upcoming iPhone with one company executive saying that he would "love to support" streaming iTunes music and video to the cellphone.

by MacNN Staff