Apple said Monday that the company sold more than 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the United States, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom during the first three days following the handset’s launch on June 24. Moreover, Apple announced that the iPhone 4 will launch in an additional 18 countries in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Rim before the end of next month.
“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”
Maintaining Momentum
Apple previously had indicated that the company had sold 50 million iPhones since the first model’s launch in 2007, which explains why financial analysts weren’t surprised when Apple announced the 1.7 million figure. “We are not changing our estimates,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Murphy.
Piper Jaffray currently projects that Apple will sell 9.5 million iPhones in the current quarter and another 9.5 million in the next three-month period ending in September. “Our calendar year 2010 estimate is 39 million,” Murphy said.
Gartner expects the new iPhone will help Apple maintain its already strong sales performance. “I do expect the rollout of the device to help maintain momentum,” said Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi last week. “Some of the sales will be upgrades, but some will be new users, too.”
The iPhone 4 should help Apple maintain its strong momentum in Europe when the iPhone 4 launches next month in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. According to IDC, Apple, Research In Motion, and HTC were the main contributors to a first-quarter surge in European smartphone sales.
“Last year’s first quarter was the worst quarter ever for the mobile-phone industry in the region, which makes this year’s growth less expressive,” noted…