Apple sets new record with 1M iPhone 4S sales on first day
Apple on Monday announced that its new iPhone 4S sold one million in its first 24 hours of availability, setting a new record for the company.
"We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The first day pre-orders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product that Apple has ever launched and we are thrilled that customers love iPhone 4S as much as we do."
The million sales surpass the previous single-day preorder record of 600,000 set by the iPhone 4 when it launched in 2010. Total sales on the launch day of the iPhone 4 reached 1.7 million, which tied the sales record previously set by the iPhone 3GS.
Of course, the iPhone 4 eventually went on to become Apple"s best-selling smartphone in its history. Total iPhone sales reached 20.34 million in the last quarter alone, a record for the company.
The first indication that the iPhone 4S would break records came on Friday, when AT&T announced that preorders had topped 200,000 in the first 12 hours of availability. That number was the highest sum ever for any handset sold by the company, which is the second-largest carrier in the U.S.
Since preorders became available last Friday, Apple quickly sold out of handsets available on this Friday"s launch date. New orders placed through Apple"s website are given an estimated wait time of one to two weeks before the handset will ship.