Apple says iPhone 4S sales top 4 million
Opening weekend sales break record for popular smartphone line
By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
Oct. 17, 2011, 10:13 a.m. EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc. said Monday morning that it sold more than 4 million units of the iPhone 4S in the three days since the device first went on sale Friday.
In a statement, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said sales of its latest device more than doubled the opening weekend sales of its predecessor smartphone — the iPhone 4 — which hit the market last summer. The new 4S features the same exterior design but contains a faster chip, higher resolution camera and new software capabilities, such as the personal digital assistant known as Siri.
Apple shares were trading down slightly in pre-market trades on Monday following the news. The stock broke a new all-time high on Friday with a closing price of $422.
Prior to Apple’s statement, BGC Partners downgraded Apple’s stock to a hold rating. In a note to clients, analyst Colin Gillis noted the new high point for the stock and said investors might get an opportunity to buy into the company at a better price.
“The company has to constantly set records just to meet expectations,” Gillis wrote. “There is nothing wrong with Apple’s business model or execution, but we do see that sentiment is overwhelmingly positive and shares are within 7% of our $450 price target.”
Gene Munster, who rates Apple’s shares as overweight, said in a note Monday that strong 4S sales over the weekend indicate that his estimate for iPhone sales growth of 60% for the December quarter “will prove to be conservative.”
He also noted that comparisons with last year’s iPhone 4 launch “are not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison,” given that the previous device sold out of inventory in about 1.5 days compared to 2.5 days for the 4S model.
Apple also launched the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5, last week. In its statement Monday, the company said more than 25 million customers are now using the latest update to the software, and 20 million of those have signed up for the company’s iCloud service, which provides online storage and synchronizing services.
The iPhone 4S launched in 7 countries on Friday. The company plans to launch in 22 additional countries on Oct. 22.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-says-iphone-4s-sales-top-4-million-2011-10-17
******************************************************************
OCU
| 
