It was January 17, 2007, when Apple's Chief Operating Officer confirmed Apple's ambition to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. Tim Cook, in an earnings call, stated: "worldwide market for total cell phones is somewhere around 1 billion and our objective of getting 1% of it would yield 10 million units."
Fast forward to June 9th, 2008 at WWDC, where Steve Jobs announced to the world that his company was well on its way to meeting the goal; over 6 million 1st generation iPhones had already been sold.
The ensuing frenzy surrounding the international launch of the iPhone 3G has bolstered sales even further, as Apple continues to exceed expectations and hone in on the 10 million unit mark.
Now, Fortune Magazine is reporting that 3 million iPhone 3Gs have already sold in the product's launching month. The article cites projections from analysis firm Cote Collaborative, saying Apple is "seeing unprecedented demand" for the revolutionary handset.
Released in 22 countries last month, the iPhone 3G is set to launch in an additional 21 come August 22nd. "The demand is so strong it may impact or delay the new countries coming on," says Michael Cote.
Regardless, Cote's analysis would bring the grand total of iPhones currently sold to 9 million units. And with 5 months left in calendar 2008, it'll be an exciting story to see just how many Jobs can dish.
