Apple iPhone 3G Sales Figures Rounded Up?
Seems like Apple has learnt another neat trick from the entertainment industry, aside from selling loads of games via digital downloads.
Their claim to have sold one million iPhone 3Gs during launch weekend is being disputed by Gene Munster, an analyst for leading investment bank Piper Jaffray.
Mr. Munster’s calculations seem to differ wildly from the official figure, a result of his survey of US stores and the number of handsets activated give him a far lower final total…
Apple seems to have counted the iPhones shipped during launch weekend, whilst the actual number of those handsets actually reaching end users is far less. Could retailers be holding stock back to give an impression of exclusivity and generate interest? They wouldn’t….would they?
This is all a bit reminiscent of the classic story of Atari’s E.T. for the 2600. One of the most awful games of all time, they shipped an impressive 4 million to stores, unfortunately 2.5 million were shipped back unsold, and promptly found a more permanent home in a New Mexico landfill. Still, they shipped 4 million!
Okay, that is hardly going to be the final destination for those other iPhones, but how may did Apple actually sell? Piper Jaffray says around 425,000. Not too shabby, but not a nice round number for the media to throw out like a million, is it?
Source: MacWorld
