Apple Inc. has sold its millionth iPhone less than three months after the device’s debut, allaying investor concerns that demand had slowed.
Last week, the company, which had set out to sell a million iPhones by the end of this month, cut the price of the handset, which doubles as an iPod music player, by a third, to $399.
It took almost two years for Apple to sell a million iPods, the chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, said in a statement yesterday.
“As far as dispelling the fears that the iPhone was off to a bad start, this should help that,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.
Yesterday’s announcement showed that the price cut was strategic, he said. “It’s not anything wrong with the phone.”
Last Wednesday, Apple stock fell more than 5 percent in trading after the price cut, which analysts said suggested that orders had stalled. Mr. Jobs said last week that the discount would increase sales in this winter’s holiday season. He is counting on the phone to be Apple’s third main business alongside Macintosh computers and iPods.
Shares of Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., jumped $4.94, or 3.8 percent, to $136.71.
Mr. Jobs said last week that Apple would give a $100 store credit to customers who paid $599 for the iPhone when it came out June 29. Customers sent hundreds of e-mail messages complaining about the price cut so soon after the phone’s debut, he said.
Demand for the iPhone has increased since the price cut, a UBS analyst, Benjamin Reitzes, said yesterday in a research note.
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