Apple Says iPhone Off to 'Great Start'

Apple (AAPL) sold 270,000 iPhones in its just completed fiscal third quarter, the company said Wednesday.

The Cupertino, Calif., tech giant recognized $5 million in iPhone revenue in the quarter ended June 30.

"We're thrilled to report the highest June quarter revenue and profit in Apple's history, along with the highest quarterly Mac sales ever," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPhone is off to a great start -- we hope to sell our one- millionth iPhone by the end of its first full quarter of sales -- and our new product pipeline is very strong."

The news comes a day after AT&T (T) said it had activated 146,000 iPhones in its second quarter ended June 30. The huge iPhone rollout took place the evening of June 29, so there were only two iPhone sales days in the latest quarter.

In keeping with the hyped-up nature of the iPhone rollout, Wall Street had high expectations for sales and activations of the game-changing smartphone. So Apple shares sold off in heavy trading Tuesday after AT&T's numbers, which were taken as a disappointment.

Analysts had expected Apple to sell somewhere between 200,000 and 700,000 iPhones during the debut.

The iPhone brought in about $150 million in sales for Apple, but the Cupertino tech shop is deferring the revenue over a two year time period and booked only a fraction of that take in the third quarter.

As TheStreet.com reported, Apple also receives about $200 from AT&T for each phone sold and $9 a month through a revenue sharing agreement that gave Ma Bell a five-year exclusive on the iPhone.

Apple shares rose modestly late Wednesday after rising $2.37 in regular trading to $137.26.

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