An early estimate by Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner suggests that after all those lines dissipated, Apple might have sold 1.5 million iPhone 4 handsets on launch day.
Here's how the projection breaks down:
600,000 pre-orders
100,000 in-store sales
50,000 sales from other places (e.g. Best Buy)
750,000 (roughly) from overseas
Interestingly enough, Reiner also stated that about 76% of the buyers yesterday were upgrading their iPhones, with only about 21% switching to AT&T. Of the customers switching to AT&T to purchase their first iPhone, 41% were originally with T-Mobile, with only 28% coming from Verizon (who is rumored to be carrying the iPhone soon).
Apple's iPhone 4 is undoubtedly the most successful iPhone to date. Last year's 3GS took a whole weekend to break one million sales, the iPhone 4 seems to have managed it in a single day.
This is just one projection, we're not going to be entirely sure how the handset has sold until some official figures are released. But early predictions seem to be very positive indeed.
