According to an email I just received, Apple claims it sold one million iPhone 3GS's during its first three days of availability. That doubles what analysts had guessed Apple would sell. Apple also says more than 6 million people have downloaded iPhone OS 3.0.Wow, I have to say, I am surprised by this news. Last year, the new low price point and added 3G capabilities pushed the iPhone 3G to sales of one million during its first weekend of availability.

Despite the high price tag for many current iPhone owners, Apple cruised right past analyst expectations that it would sell 500,000 units over the weekend.

In a prepared statement, Steve Jobs said, "Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning. With over 50,000 applications available from Apple's revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."

How long Apple and the iPhone can maintain that momentum is up for debate. There are only so many people interested in the device and tethering it to AT&T's services (in the U.S., anyway). The device went on sale in the U.S. and seven other countries around the world on Friday, June 19, starting at 7AM.

Lines were much shorter than in years past, but many attribute that to the fact that both AT&T and Apple offered the possibility of direct-to-home delivery for those who pre-ordered the iPhone. I have to wonder if this figure includes those who pre-ordered the iPhone 3GS, but have yet to receive it. Perhaps one reason for the large sales numbers is that the iPhone 3GS finally brings a better camera and other missing features such as video recording to the table.

Of course, this does, in fact, trounce sales of the Palm Pre, which so far is pegged to be somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000.