It likely comes as little surprise that pre-order sales of the iPhone 5 were brisk, but even Apple (News - Alert) was astonished by the rate at which they sold. Just minutes ago, Apple filled us in on just how brisk the sales were, and as it turns out, they're already breaking records with the new device.

Apple put out the numbers earlier today, saying that there were more than two million pre-orders placed on the first day pre-orders were available to be placed. This not only doubled previous pre-order numbers, but it also exceeded the total supply of the device, and likely accounted for at least part of the reason why the time to delivery abruptly doubled on the first day of pre-orders from one week to two.


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The majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers starting this Friday, when the device is available in stores, but already many of the pre-ordered devices are scheduled for delivery in October. Apple's senior vice president for world-wide marketing, Philip Schiller, described the response as "phenomenal", and given that the first day's pre-orders of the iPhone (News - Alert) 4S were only half of what those of the iPhone 5 were, calling those first day sales "phenomenal" is almost an understatement.

Yet at the same time, this was almost to be expected. Apple also reported that every new iPhone so far--this likely would include the iPhone 5--has outsold all of its predecessors combined. AT&T (News - Alert), meanwhile, also announced that the iPhone 5 had set a record over the weekend in sales, though they weren't saying just what that record was in terms of numbers.

Naturally, Apple is depending on such results for their own success; given that they release comparatively few pieces of hardware against the rosters of competitors like Samsung (News - Alert), each iPhone must be a knocked-out-of-the-park smash hit because anything less would kill Apple as a company.

While Apple constantly improves each new iPhone such that each new version is a leap ahead of the previous, some analysts are even beginning to figure that Apple needs to innovate even harder lest people get bored with the iPhone line as a whole. Considering the brisk sales on the iPhone 5, it's easy to say that that's not likely to happen any time soon, but still; the concept remains a possibility.

The changes not only to the iPhone, but also to its operating system iOS 6 and to one of its more popular features in iTunes should make the Apple line one to follow for a good long while to come, and that's good news for Apple. How long it will remain good news, though, is the question.

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