Can't Get a Clear Signal on iPhone Sales

The headline that ran on July 3? No surprise there. "Apple's iPhone Sales Beat Expectations." The lead implied a happy Steve Jobs.

Now let's try to establish a pattern, do our best to build consensus. Did another article, from that same July 3 (and from our own TheStreet.com), side with the 200,000 or 300,000 guesstimate? Well, get your fingers and toes ready, boys and girls. This article talked about expectations in the million range. So the headline there? No surprise: "Apple's iPhone Misses Sales Targets." And forget a smiling Jobs. This lead had rivals breaking out the bubbly: "Apple's iPhone missed a 1 million unit sales target and rivals are rejoicing."

So it missed sales targets. So how much did it miss by? This is what we are told: "Analysts estimate somewhere between 200,000 and 700,000 iPhones have been sold since the debut blitz started Friday evening." That narrows it down, huh?

As an aside, it reminds me of this fantasy I've long held of starting a firm called Financial Analysts Inc. We will all sleep the day away, with our feet up on our desks. The business media will call for a quote, jolting us awake long enough to answer, "Between a lot and a little." The next morning, we'll see ourselves quoted: "Analysts estimate somewhere between a lot and a little have been sold." A fantasy -- but not so far from the truth, huh?