Apple and AT&T sold around 500,000 iPhones over the weekend, according to a report from research firm Piper Jaffray, dpa reported. The phones, which include a fully integrated web browser and digital media player, went on sale Friday night following months of excitement. Controlled via an innovative touch-screen rather than a keypad, the iPhone has been hailed as the future of mobile phones. But many customers reported long delays in activating their new gadgets. Unlike traditional cell-phone activations, the phone can only be activated via the user's computer rather than in stores. Piper Jaffray's estimate indicated higher than expected demand. The company had predicted that around 200,000 iPhones would be sold over the debut weekend. But Apple and its network partner AT&T seemed to have done a better job gauging the demand. Though supplies were limited at some AT&T stores, Apple had iPhones available in each one of its stores on Saturday, and in 84 per cent of its stores Sunday, the report said. According to the study, 95 per cent of iPhone buyers in San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis purchased the 8 gigabyte model for 599 dollars, rather than the lower capacity 4GB model for 499 dollars. Industry analysts expect the first iPhone to continue selling quickly, with predictions that Apple and AT&T could shift about three million handsets within the first weeks. Apple itself is hoping to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008, giving it 1 per cent of the total cell-phone market. The iPhone is expected to go on sale in Europe later this year and in Asia in 2008.
