Despite activation woes and generally glum economic news that accompanied its launch, Apple’s 3G iPhone put the original to shame this weekend by selling 1 million units in just three days. The company released its official figures on Monday.
“iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in a statement. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”
While Apple the first iPhone may have been a slower seller, one significant difference may help account for much of the gap. Unlike the first iPhone’s summer debut, the 3G version launched simultaneously almost worldwide in 21 countries, with only France lagging behind. The original, by contrast, trickled into different countries slowly as Apple hammered out agreements with carriers there, leading to a much smaller initial market.
Apple stock climbed 2.32 percent early Monday morning on news of the phone’s success, recovering from a disappointing close on Friday.
The company also noted the iPhone App Store saw more than 10 million downloads during its first weekend.
