Apple iPhone Crosses 10M Mark
By Azam on October 6, 2008 
Apple hits milestone as the market falls below 10,000 on DJ Index and falls over 800 points during the day eclipsing previous 778 point drop reached recently. The Dow Jones recovered most of lost ground an ended roughly 370 points down. Apple shares were down as much as 9.53 points reaching low of 87.54 or down 9.8%, Apple ended the day in positive territory at 98.14 for 1.07 point gain. Apple reached sales target of 10M iPhone ahead of schedule, reported by VentureBeat and Apple 2.0 point out. Also, Apple is the second biggest selling US mobile phone after the Razor 3 according to NDP and reported by 9to5mac.
By tracking International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, Bullish Cross has figured out that Apple has made just about 9.2 million iPhone 3Gs thus far. Even by conservative estimates, Apple has likely sold something close to 7.6 million units of the device since its launch in June. That, when added to the 2.42 million first generation iPhones sold this year before the 3G’s release, means Apple is past the 10 million mark, as Apple 2.0 points out.
Still more good news from Apple, the iPhone has become the second best-selling mobile handset in the U.S., just behind the Motorola Razr 3, according to NDP research. The report also shows an impressive 30% of iPhone 3G buyers left existing carriers and made the switch to AT&T according to NPD. AT&T has been the iPhone 3G’s exclusive carrier in the U.S. since the mobile device from Apple was released in June.
According to the report, which covers June through August, 47 percent of those switching to AT&T to get the iPhone 3G came from Verizon Wireless, 24 percent from T-Mobile, and 19 percent from Sprint. In contrast, about 23 percent of consumers overall switched carriers from June through August previous to the report.
“The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis.
“While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G has proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network.”
According to NPD’s “iPhone 3G Report,” before the launch of the iPhone 3G, iPhone sales represented 11 per cent of the consumer market for smartphones (January through May 2008); however, after the launch of iPhone 3G, Apple commanded 17 per cent of the smartphone market (January through August 2008).
The top four best-selling smartphones (based on unit sales) between June and August 2008 were:
1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. RIM Blackberry Curve
3. RIM Blackberry Pearl
4. Palm Centro
Tags : 9to5mac, apple, Apple 2.0, iPhone, Mortoloa, NDP Group, Razor 3, Steve Jobs, VentureBeat