Strong Demand for the iPhone's Long Awaited Debut

The long awaited iPhone from Apple hit stores on Friday and was met with long lines of consumers, some who had waited almost two days for the new device. The phone was retailing for $499 with 4 Gigabytes and $599 with 8 Gigabytes.

Most customers chose the more expensive version. One estimate brings the total number for the weekend at almost 500,000 units as some stores were processing up to 1,000 iPhone sales per hour. Apples estimates that 3 million units will be sold this year and 10 million in 2008.

Apple boss Steve Jobs said that the iPhone will become Apple's third main business after the iPod music player and Mac computer. Buyers also must commit to a two-year contract with AT&T at a minimum of $59.99 per month.

The iPhone is a multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone by Apple. The functions include those of a camera phone, Internet services including e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, Visual Voicemail, and local "Wi-Fi" connectivity. User input is accomplished via multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons.

Brought to you, courtesy of The Mortgage Market Guide