As Verizon begins the first day of iPhone sales to the general public, a noted Apple analyst is projecting the carrier could sell more than 1 million handsets in the first three days, including 250,000 pre-orders from Verizon subscribers. The addition of Verizon to existing iPhone sales from AT&T “marks an important battle in the war for smartphone market share,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Thursday.
Noting the Verizon iPhone sold out twice during the pre-order period, the demand outstrips both Apple’s and the carrier’s expectation, Munster writes.
Munster said his previous estimate Apple would sell 16.2 million iPhones worldwide through the quarter ending in March may be too low, given the Verizon reception. The analyst also stressed Apple’s iOS platform is providing half the handset market’s profits – enough to overwhelm Android – even though phones based on Google mobile operating system outsell the iPhone 2 to 3.
