This post is brought to you by the number 1,001. That's the news that Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 brings today, that number being how many applications are available at Apple's App Store as of Monday night. As DeWitt notes, that is "roughly double" the number from just over two weeks ago when the App Store opened. To put this in further perspective, Apple announced over 10 million downloads from the App Store in the first weekend. Ten days later, during the conference call for the company's fiscal third quarter, that number had grown to 25 million. That's another big number, but it will be small next to the press release that is coming.
It has been two weeks since Apple announced 1 million 3G iPhones sold to customers in 21 countries, though whether customers means just end users or reseller partners remains a mystery. Nonetheless, since partners like AT&T don't have product for store shelves—not to mention chronic shortages at Apple Stores—it's a good bet that just about every iPhone sold has actually been sold. And that means Apple is about to sell its ten millionth iPhone—which is not quite the same thing as selling ten million in 2008, as Steve Jobs predicted at Macworld Expo 2007.
As of July 13, Apple has sold 7,124,000 iPhones, 2G and 3G combined. Considering the unabated demand in the two weeks since the 3G launch plus the introduction of the iPhone 3G in France, a conservative estimate would add at least another million. More likely, Apple has already sold nine million iPhones, with the likely ten millionth going in the first or second week of August. That will be a singular accomplishment for a company that only started selling phones just over a year ago. One wonders whether the ten millionth iPhone sold might be made into a mini-event. Maybe there will be a gold ticket in the box entitling the bearer to a special tour of the Apple Campus in Cupertino by Steve Jobs wearing a top hat, and a magic elevator ride at the end that is not an idiom for a homo-erotic encounter.
Either way, 10 million iPhones will be a wild ride.
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