Verizon breaks first day sales record with iPhone 4 pre-orders

February 4, 2011 By Aemon Malone

In two hours, Verizon's iPhone 4 became the company's best selling launch-day phone, making it a "very good day" according to the CEO Dan Mead.

Verizon not only sold out of its allotment of iPhone 4 pre-orders, the company also set a record for launch-day sales, the Verizon announced on Friday. The iPhone 4 needed just two hours to exceed any other Verizon phone’s launch day sales.

“This was an exciting day,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer for Verizon Wireless. “In just our first two hours, we had already sold more phones than any first day launch in our history.”

“And, when you consider these initial orders were placed between the hours of 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., it is an incredible success story,” Mead continued. “It is gratifying to know that our customers responded so enthusiastically to this exclusive offer – designed to reward them for their loyalty.”

Verizon began taking pre-orders Thursday at 3 A.M. and halted sales at 8:10 P.M. What’s not known is exactly how many iPhone 4s were pre-ordered during that time. Last June, Apple announced that 600,000 iPhone 4s has been pre-ordered in the first day of availability in advance of the phone’s launch on AT&T’s network. Apple Insider cites an analyst with RBC Capital Markets who suggests that Verizon limited its total pre-orders to “less than 100,000″ units.

If you missed out today, you’ll have another chance to get a Verizon iPhone 4 next week. The CDMA model of the iPhone 4 will go on general sale starting on February 10 at 7 A.M through Apple and Verizon stores. On February 9, qualified Verizon customers will have an opportunity to order the phone through Apple’s website for in-store pickup or delivery starting February 10.

Showing 2 comments

Steven at 8:06am 4th February 2011 I suspect verizon knows the most phone it has sold on opening day of a new phone. The Droid is estimated to be 100,000 to 125,000 units the first day. iPhone 4 on verizon matched that in 2 hours. It sold for 17 before running out of stock. Order numbers started at 0. There are people with order numbers in the 1.2 million range. Good day for Verizon.
Jeffrey Van Camp at 7:07am 4th February 2011 Hmm. I love it when companies try to make their own news. With no numbers provided, how can Verizon claim it has broken any records? How often does it take pre-orders?