iPhone 4S pre-orders pass 1m on day one

Apple has announced that iPhone 4S pre-orders passed the 1m mark in 24 hours, storming past the company's previous sales record of 600,000 iPhone 4 buyers in a single day. Put up for sale last Friday, the initial stock of the iPhone 4S promptly ran out before the day was through, with shipping estimates slipping past the originally quoted October 14. Not only has the iPhone 4S set a new sales record for Apple's smartphones, but for any hardware launch in the company's history.

"We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S," Apple senior VP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller said in a statement this morning. "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."

Those who chose not to pre-order may be able to pick up an iPhone 4S from their local Apple Store on Friday this week. Sales will kick off at 8am local time, though based on previous years we're expecting stock to be limited. Queues have already begun forming outside Apple Stores worldwide.

For more on the iPhone 4S, check out our hands-on report from Apple's launch event last week.

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