Apple's Iphone 4s Sold 4 Million Units During Its First Weekend In Release

Apple sold more than 4 million iPhone 4S units during its first weekend in release and the total units sold is a whooping 4 million. It’s kind of amazing that despite the “disappointments” of critics on the features of iPhone 4S, particularly the much talked about SIRI personal voice assistant, Apple still managed to get those numbers.

That surpasses estimates by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who predicted in an Oct. 14 research note the company would sell between 2 million and 2.5 million units during that same period, including the 1 million preorders. In just three days, the iPhone 4S became the best-selling iPhone to date. Apple said it more than doubled the iPhone 4 sales during its first three days of sales. Additionally, Apple also announced there are now more than 25 million iPhone owners who are using iOS 5, five days after it was released.
With the remarkable feat achieved by the iPhone 4S in the first few countries where it was released last weekend, it will be interesting to note whether its second batch of releases will be as successful as the first one. Munster had based that number on historical trends for iPhone sales. “We surveyed 550 people at Apple stores regarding iPhone 4S purchasing patterns,” he wrote in that note, “and we compare the results with similar surveys conducted at every iPhone launch.”
Now, in an updated Oct. 17 research note, Munster believes that those 4 million units are a harbinger of a better-than-expected quarter for Apple: “Based on launch sales, we think 60 [percent] y/y growth for the Dec.-11 quarter will prove to be conservative despite the fact that launch figures are not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison.” Apple is scheduled to make the iPhone 4S available in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, on October 28.

The iPhone 4S resembles the iPhone 4, albeit with significant under-the-hood tweaks to its hardware and software. It also appears that some folks are moving to the iPhone 4S from other platforms. In a small, informal poll Reuters conducted on Friday, the news service found that nearly 25 percent of iPhone 4S buyers were ditching a BlackBerry, Symbian, or Android smartphone for Apple's latest device.

Aside from the iPhone 4S, Apple also said that 25 million users have already started using its new mobile operating system version, iOS 5, and 20 million folks have signed up for iCloud. The smartphone also comes preloaded with iOS 5, a significant upgrade of the company’s mobile operating system, in addition to Siri, a “digital assistant” of sorts that responds vocally to spoken questions, and will even act upon requests such as, “Send a text to my brother.”

Over the summer, RBC Capital Markets rele
ased a study that found 76 percent of the 1,500 iPhone users it polled planned to sign up for iCloud. By applying that percentage to the entire market, the firm said that it believes as many as 150 million users could sign up for iCloud eventually.That five-lens camera module is “a first in any smartphone analysis by the IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis service,” the research firm wrote in an Oct. 14 note to media and analysts. Current CEO Tim Cook now has the responsibility of guiding the company forward as it combats Google Android and other competitors for control of the mobility space.