Apple sold half a million iPhones?


Did Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) sell half a million iPhones over the weekend? That, of course, depends on who you ask. If you recall, TheStreet.coms Scott Moritz did his own math last week estimating 392,000 iPhones sold in stores, not online, which could generate revenue of $216 million on the evening of June 29.

Well, according to Bloomberg, analysts' estimates ranged from 50,000-200,000 units heading into the weekend. According to estimates, Apple has indeed managed to meet analysts' top prediction, selling as many as 200,000 on the first day after the debut of the iPhone alone. We also know from many media sources and from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) itself that many of its stores were sold out of the iPhone within 24 hours. Trip Chowdhry, a Global Equities analyst, says AT&T sold 72,000 units while Apple sold 128,000 units on the first day.

According to CNET, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates Apple sold 500,000 units over the weekend. Munster had said before Apple would sell 200,000 units on Friday and Saturday, but amended his estimates over the weekend, saying the iPhone was available in all Apple stores on Saturday, and in 84% of the stores on Sunday.

It wasn't clear if the 200,000 estimate for the first 24 hours, or the 500,000 estimate for the weekend include online sales.

Another interesting point brought up by most media reporting is that shoppers opted for the more expensive ($599) 8GB model than the cheaper ($499) 4GB one. Many customers (as many as half) were also new to AT&T.
As for CEO Steve Jobs, who had predicted the iPhone will become Apple's third main business, his goal is to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, capturing 1% of the global market for handsets. Most signs indicate Jobs is well on his way to reaching that goal, and possibly exceeding it. Apple may have underestimated demand as stores were sold out of the phone and manufacturing boosted only last week.


Update: CNNMoney has more from Gene Munster's report and the Associate Press brings a few other analysts opinions:
  • Goldman Sachs upped 2008 iPhone sales forecast from 10.5 million to 12 million.
  • JPMorgan Securities on the other hand cut the iPhone sales estimate to 9.9 million from 12.2 million.
  • And Lehman Brothers thinks Apple will need to cut prices later this year to appeal to mainstream consumers.

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