Apple Sticks It To Naysayers With 1M iPhone 3G S Sales

3G confirmed more than 1 million iPhone 3G S units sold operating system

For Apple, it's a victory, even if Apple didn't publish any numbers on new customers taking the iPhone plunge for the first time with the 3G S, or any other specifics. Apple also stated that sales of the 3G S more or less matched opening weekend sales of the iPhone 3G when it was released in 2008.

Several analysts, including Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, had predicted half a million sold, or even fewer. A research note from Munster, published early Monday, extrapolated 750,000 sold based on interviews conducted by Munster and his team of iPhone 3G S buyers in New York and Minneapolis.

But to Apple, Munster must be just one more naysayer for whom 1 million sold represents a heaping plate of crow to eat. In fact, the most interesting stat in Munster's research might be the 12 percent of customers he and his team interviewed who said they were dumping their Research In Motion BlackBerrys to join the iPhone brigade.

Several analysts took the "color me impressed" route with their comments on Monday, even if the reaction was tempered. Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros., for example, had initially predicted 600,000 sold and said in a research note that such strong sales in a recession climate were a good sign.

UBS' Maynard Um, in comments reported on the MacNN blog and other places, maintained a prediction of 4.55 million in iPhone 3G S shipments by the end of the June quarter, but also said that number might be "conservative" based on the weekend's performance.

Other analysts looked ahead to Apple's continued penetration into the business world, suggesting that the iPhone was beginning to transcend its status as primarily a consumer device.

"The iPhone literally is a computer now," said Charles Wolf, a Needham & Co. analyst, to The Wall Street Journal. "It can make calls, but the other stuff it can do is truly amazing."

Wolf suggested to the Journal that the iPhone's true hook is its crossover appeal to both businesses and personal smartphone consumers. That's true, Wolf said, even if BlackBerry remains the smartphone staple for business use.

"The key point is that even in the business market, the owners of the iPhone are going to use it outside business for personal use," Wolf said.

A dropoff might be the order of tomorrow, but for the moment, it's a banner day for Apple and iPhone.

"Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs in Apple's statement. "With over 50,000 applications available from Apple's revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."