AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) may be defying the economic slump (err, recession) by signing up more wireless subscribers even as those same customers tighten up their wallets and purses. Analyst Will Power with Robert W. Baird & Co. indicated that the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. may snag up to 1.5 million new subscribers in the current quarter compared with the 1.2 million subscribers AT&T gained in the year-ago quarter. Impressive prediction, yes?

Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone may be the variable that makes this happen. Yes, there are now touchscreen wireless handsets from all the major wireless carriers, but the iPhone still was the first to market and set the standard in whiz-bang marketing to help AT&T nail these impressive numbers. The iPhone is not a phone, nor a hand-held computer nor a music/video/television player: it's an icon. And, that's all that counts.

Just like the iPod before it, the iPhone's biggest draw isn't the mind control it has over its fans -- it's the icon status just like the groupthink materials citizens feel they need to have. Nothing wrong with that -- it's present human nature. Apple is just exceptionally great at creating the perception that customers "need" these devices. The good news for AT&T is that it gets all the subscribers from Apple's marketing efforts.

One of the holy grails for consumer electronics manufacturers has always been to produce a single device that is good at so many things that customers don't need a whole collection of gadgets -- just one. The perfect example of this has been Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. It makes calls, allows web browsing and email, can play music, TV and movies, and do about a jillion other things.

It's not the first device to try and be a jack-of-all-trades, but it's arguable the first to be the simplest and coolest at everything it does. Customers are apparently noticing, as they are dumping other gadgets in favor of carrying and using just one - the iPhone. And we're not talking middle-income families and consumers either, but those with incomes below the median.

This is music to Apple's ears -- its device is being used by all demographics for everything from telecommunications to video and music to web browsing (possibly being the first "portable" computer for many). ComScore stated that iPhone ownership spiked 48% from June 1 to the end of August among households earning between $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Need Apple say more? Not really.

It seems that market analysts and pundits can't stop pulling out their anal selves from the woodwork to worry about possible sales discrepancies between Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone sales numbers and accompanying AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) iPhone activations. Some have even pointed out what I call the one million plus unit discrepancy.

Is this speculate discrepancy way off the mark? Analyst Ezra Gottheil thinks so. There is some market fear that Apple's iPhone sales not meeting up with AT&T's iPhone activations means that Apple stands to lose out on two years worth of revenue on those "missing iPhones." Apple's sweetheart deal with AT&T gives the tech company a cut of every AT&T iPhone customer's monthly bill, you see.

Does Apple stand to lose future revenue streams by selling iPhones that are not activated by AT&T customers? Sure -- but it's not a huge financial impact to the company according to Gottheil. Although quite a few iPhones have been rumored to have been sold, unlocked (using multiple hacking methods) and used with non-AT&T wireless carriers, these numbers have not been wholly verified by either Apple or AT&T. Has AT&T stockpiled unactivated iPhones that represent Apple's sales numbers and AT&T's lower iPhone activation numbers? That's highly doubtful. Until a solid explanation comes forward, is it that big of a deal to Apple pundits? For the time being, it seems so.

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi looked at Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest sales numbers and thinks that the company may have an iPhone inventory problem:

We believe the data points to a significant amount of iPhone channel inventory ... This is negative in two ways: (1) it indicates end-user demand for iPhone is lower than many investors may think based on Apple's sales figure; and (2) it points to slower iPhone sales in the current quarter, since much of this inventory is likely to be drawn down.

Check out News.com's coverage of the report for more details and insight.

Apple's stock has been hit hard of late, and this latest inventory report underscores one of the reasons I wouldn't buy Apple stock (I wouldn't short it either): The company is 100% dependent on its continued ability to innovate and stay ahead of the competition with each new product introduction. Even a blockbuster hit can only carry the company for so long.

Any investment in Apple is essentially a bet on the company's ability to continue being an innovator. Call me crazy but if I'm going to pay 6+ times book and 25 times earnings, I'd prefer a strong moat that doesn't require continued brilliance.

The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone is not selling up to expectations in the UK. According to the Financial Times, "O2 said shortly before the iPhone's UK launch on November 9 that it expected handset sales of 200,000 in the first two months, but people familiar with the situation said the actual figure for the first eight weeks was about 190,000." But, a number of analysts viewed sales estimates from O2, the exclusive iPhone reseller in the UK to be very conservative. Estimates by research firm Gartner were as high as 400,000.

The reason for the slow sales may be the pricing of the iPhone and its calling plan. The handset plus a minimum contract cost about $1,700.

If the news were in a vacuum it might not sting. But, just a week ago China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) said it had cut off conversations with Apple over distributing the product in China, the world largest cell market. The price of the calling plan Apple wanted to market in the world's most populated nation may be been a sticking point.

If sales in the UK and Europe do not begin to exceed expectations and an Asian roll-out is slow, that leaves the U.S. to carry the burden of Apple hitting its 2008 sales targets.

That may be a little too much to expect.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

When it comes to predicting various product sales from hipper-than-hip Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), it's good to know that we have more than financial analyst statistics and feelings to look at. One stock watcher recently hung out quite a bit at several Apple retail stores to try and collect empirical data from his own two eyes to see if Apple's analyst-predicted iPhone and Mac product sales numbers are indeed stacking up or are falling short.

The conclusion? Apple will most likely achieve its goal of 730,000 iPhone sales in the quarter ended September 30. In fact, the conclusion this analyst came up with from his store checks indicate Apple could bypass its own estimate and sell over 800,000 iPhones in the July-September quarter.

As far as Apple Mac sales go, Gene Munster's research stated that about 2 million Mac systems would be sold in September alone, pushing past his earlier estimate of 1.9 million. It's interesting to note that the average Apple retail store sells over 55 Mac systems per open day, not counting website sales or other retail sales, like those inside Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) locations. Are Apple shares headed above $200 territory? Munster maintains his $211 target.

According to Reuters and many other news sources, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) failed to sell the number of iPhones everyone was expecting. Analysts predicted some 200,000 sales, whereas the number in the air seems to be 146,000. As a result, this morning Apple stock tumbled down almost 5%, though it began to recover some of that loss as the day moved on.

Concerns about the iPhone vulnerability and security are also bring out some caution in investors, though the security bug has yet to be seen in the wild or affecting users.

Apple will be likely releasing more information tomorrow at their earnings call, which might shed some more light on the situation. Considering that Apple only had a couple days at the end of the quarter to sell the iPhones, it's hardly a definitive statement on the success of the iPhone. Not with surveys out reporting that 70% of Zune users are planning to switch to the iPhone.

If investors think the iPhone has legs, and consider that Apple usually has a very good quarter as it makes education sales (and we also have the new operating system that will be released, bringing a further cash infusion and hype factor around Apple in), then this might be considered a nice time to buy on the dip.

[Disclosure: I own Apple shares]

I'll admit it -- I've grown wary of any news these past four days with the word "iPhone" in it. The most-anticipated consumer electronics device in recent memory (forget game consoles) went on sale at 6pm in each local time zone this past Friday courtesy of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Over the weekend, the reviews came rolling in about how fantastic the device is -- you can see Engadget's iPhone review here -- although there were also reports about the activation problems many customers face. Truth be told, the surge in customer inquiries and complaints that AT&T has had to respond to was bound to cause some leaks in this otherwise well-oiled machine. Probably no company could have fared any better.

Even so, the iPhone's sales continue to ramp up at a rate that is making the industry slack-jawed in awe: 500,000 to 700,000 iPhones have already been sold, according to estimates by industry watchers. Although both Apple and AT&T (NYSE: T) have not released sales figures, this estimate is probably a decently accurate one. Four days and half a million to three-quarters of a million sold? Holy cow. Either AT&T just gained a huge dose of new customers or it gained a decent does of existing but upgrading customers -- or a combination of both. That combination is an important metric, I think, one we will certainly hear about later. Right now, though, Apple is basking in, well, itself. After creating marketing hype that reminded me of the hoopla surrounding the "Blair Witch Project," the iPhone has landed and landed hard.

AT&T and Apple have said that all of their retail locations have nearly sold out of the initial iPhone shipments. Again, in four days. With the numbers of 500,000 (or even topping 750,000), that's a cool $250 million in sales so far. Again, in four days (getting the point here?). AT&T even said that, "We sold more iPhones in the first weekend of sales than in the first month of sales for any device in AT&T history." AAPL shares were at an all-time high this past Friday right before the launch, but were down to just over $121 at the market close yesterday.