Apple sells 1.7 million iPhone 4s in first three days

Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in its first three days, the company announced on Monday. To compare, in the first three days of iPhone 3G and 3GS sales, Apple sold 1 million units of each.

Meanwhile, way back in 2007, it took 72 days to sell 1 million original iPhones. Apple's press release said:

Apple today announced that it has sold over 1.7 million of its iPhone 4 through Saturday, June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24. The new iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which makes video calling as easy as one tap, and Apple’s new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in stunning text, images and video.

“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”

Meanwhile, Apple's fiscal fourth quarter started Sunday. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, in a client note, said he saw several "catalysts" which should prove very positive for Apple's bottom line.

• An estimated 200,000 iPhone 4s were pre-ordered after Apple pushed back the delivery date (you will recall when the delivery date shifted to mid-July)
• The launch of the white iPhone 4 in the second half of July
• The launch in 83 additional countries by the end of September

It does make you wonder how many units Apple could have sold if the still absent white iPhone 4 was around doesn't it?