Apple Sells More Than 1 Mln iPhone 3GSs in First Weekend

Apple announced that it sold more than one million iPhone 3GS models during the new phone's first weekend of availability.

It seems folks who thought the availability of a $99 iPhone 3G would cannibalize initial sales of Apple’s brand-new iPhone 3GS were wrong: Apple has announced it has sold more than 1 million iPhone 3GS units during the phone’s first weekend of availability. And, just to put the icing on the gloating, Apple offered a quote from soon-to-be-returning CEO Steve Jobs on the 3GS’s apparent success:

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

Of course, U.S. iPhone users still aren’t very happy with AT&T, Apple’s exclusive carrier partner for the iPhone in the United States. While the iPhone 3GS supports MMS messaging, AT&T won’t be ready with the service until "late summer." And while the iPhone 3GS supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity, AT&T doesn’t have that ready to go yet either; AT&T also isn’t supporting tethering, which would enable user to use their iPhone’s Internet connection with notebook computers and other devices via Wi-FI.

Nonetheless, customers are clearly voting with their feet, embracing the iPhone’s new 32 GB capacity, video-capable 3 megapixel camera, longer battery life, faster processor, compass, and voice control—along with the new features of Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0, which finally brings Copy and Paste (along with phone-wide searching, a landscape keyboard, and push notifications) to the iPhone.

The iPhone 3GS with 32 GB of storage is available for $299 while a 16 GB version is available for $199; an 8 GB version of the original iPhone 3G is available for $99. All phones require a two year service contract.

(In an unrelated note, Apple seems to have quietly changed the way it refers to the new iPhone: when the phone was announced, it was the "iPhone 3G S;" as of today, Apple’s materials are calling it the "iPhone 3GS." The unit may have more capacity than its predecessor, but as of this morning it has one less space.)