iPhone 4S Breaks Single-Day Preorder Record: Tribute to Steve Jobs

The iPhone 4S preorders topped one million in a single day, breaking the company's single-day sales record held by the iPhone 4. The surging demand for the 4S is seen as a tribute to Steve Jobs, whose death immediately followed the device's release.

While Jobs' death has been deeply mourned all over the world, the innovative visionary who is equaled to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford has contributed to Apple's growth until, or beyond, his last breath.

We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S, said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. The first day pre-orders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product that Apple has ever launched and we are thrilled that customers love iPhone 4S as much as we do.

The new version of the iPhone was introduced at a press event dubbed Let's Talk iPhone, on Oct .4 after a long wait of 16 months.

While the online buzz around the fifth generation of the iPhone fueled the mounting expectation to see dramatically refreshed iPhone 5s on the shelves by the year's end, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S with a host of improvements and new features. While disappointment over no new design was clearly in the air, the 4S proved to be at least fascinating enough to top one million preorders, exceeding the previous record of 600,000 iPhone 4s sold on the first day of preorder.

On Friday when the preorders began, the online stores of Apple, AT&T, and Verizon ran out of their supplies, with AT&T boasting its sales of 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours, breaking the company's sales records of Apple products.

The unexpected blossoming of iPhone 4S is speculated by many as triggered by the passing of Steve Jobs, who founded Apple and dramatically altered the way we use media today. Teh demand for the 4S is driven mainly by loyal Apple customers, according to telecom Analyst Foad Fadaghi. While surveys conducted earlier this year suggested many Android users would switch to the iPhones, the latest boom does not seem to be the case.

While the 4S might not win over non-Apple users that are waiting for unique features or design, demand from existing users is enough to make it a top selling smartphone in 2011, Fadaghi told smarthouse.com.au.

The preordered devices will reach customers on Oct. 14, when the handset will be made available in retail stores.

The iPhone 4S will go on sale in 22 more countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Apple made its latest iPhone available in 16GB, 32GB, and, for the first time for an iPhone, 64GB. Each model costs $199, $299, and $399 with a two-year contract.

Coinciding with the iPhone 4S release, Apple announced the sales of an 8GB iPhone 4 for $99, and the iPhone 3GS for free with a two-year contract. The previous models of iPhone 4 also received lower price tags in T&T and Verizon, $150 for 16GB and $200 for 32GB.