iPhone 4S Release Date: Will Sales of New Apple Phone Reach 4 Million in Sales?
Apple officials are anxious to see if the release of its latest gadget on Friday, the iPhone 4S, will reach the 4-million mark in unit sales this weekend, according to Bloomberg.com.
The phone has already made record sales, reportedly selling over one million units within the first 24 hours of the gadget being made available for pre-order with carriers such as Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. This is a 67 percent increase over pre-order sales of its predecessor, the iPhone 4S.
"It's going to easily outpace any previous launch," analyst at Needham & Co. in New York Charlie Wolf told Bloomberg.com. "It helps that the iPhone is available on the three largest U.S. carriers for the first time, which will bring in new buyers."
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As the latest device was released worldwide today, thousands of fans flocked to Apple stores to be the first to get their hands on a unit, all the while paying tribute to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died Wednesday, Oct. 5, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. Some admirers brought an array of flowers, candles, and photos to honor the memory of the inventor many are calling one of the most influential people of our generation.
Apple co-founder and long-time business partner of Jobs Steve Wozniak was the first in line at the Los Gatos, Calif., Apple store, and in an interview with a fan posted on Youtube, Wozniak said he came out because he wanted to be a part of the excitement and frenzy surrounding the phone’s release.
"I've gotten so used to loving to wait in line, overnight; the product has meaning, it’s so good," he said. "It’s an important part of our lives, and this is just my way of recognizing it. I want to be a part of this direction of great products."
With an array of new features, including a new mode of voice recognition software called "Siri" that allows users to ask the phone questions in a more natural, conversational language and have it respond appropriately, the iPhone 4S is a big hit so far with fans. Experts initially questioned how well sales would do with the announcement of a newer model to be released in 2012, the iPhone 5.
