Selling a half million iPhone 3Gs in the first week of availability here in the U.S. is a tough record to top. According to the latest reports, during the first two months Japan’s sales of the iPhone 3G have just reached 200,000 and the demand is now declining to a point where analysts believe they will not hit the half million mark. Meanwhile in Singapore, SingTel has sold more than 20,000 iPhone 3Gs since the launch just three weeks ago making it, ‘one of SingTel’s fastest selling handsets ever (and) interest in the iPhone 3G remains high’. With the iPhone 3G being the first time SingTel has given a clear indication of sales after securing an exclusive deal, it seems that success with iPhone 3G sales numbers are always relative.
Unfortunately not every country is as optimistic as Russia when it comes to the iPhone 3G sales. In Russia, MTS committed to selling one million iPhone over the next three years while both Vimpelcom and MegaFon signed orders to each sell 1.5 million units over the next two years. Given that Japan is the world’s largest mobile market, the expectations seemed to demand sales to match the U.S. while a smaller SingTel network is deemed a success after only selling a little of 6,000 iPhone 3Gs per week.