Early weekend sales estimates are closer to 500,000 to 700,000 for Apple’s latest product. The iPhone will soon become as popular as other products, like the iPod or the Macintosh computer.
Blackfriars Marketing noted an average of two or three customers leaving Apple Stores with iPhones on Friday night every minute. With this fact, they considered that at rush hour, Apple’s sales could have reached 30,000 per hour. Between Apple and AT&T they are believed to have sold 500,000 iPhones in the first weekend. Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research estimates that the number of iPhones sold that first weekend would be slightly higher: 525,000.
The Wall Street Journal Online afternoon report stated that:
Goldman Sachs pegged weekend sales at at least 700,000 units, double its forecast of 350,000, and raised its iPhone sales forecast to 5.3 million from 4 million. Analysts at JP Morgan were considerably less optimistic, saying Apple would recognize 312,000 unit sales for the quarter just ended. “We think initial demand may have been disappointing, but it’s still early days,” they wrote.
All of this buying frenzy led to empty shelves at Apple Stores and AT&T outlets across the country. The iPhone can be ordered online from Apple’s website, but there is a two to four week wait for delivery. Not surprisingly, the iPhone is already available on the online auction site eBay.com.
In fact, an auction was just how the first iPhone itself was obtained. One person paid $100,000 to get the popular phone and to support a good cause. As of this writing, the lucky winner still remains anonymous. Proceeds from the charity auction benefited Keep A Child Alive, a charity that provides antiretroviral treatment to children with AIDS in Africa.