"We clocked people walking out of Apple stores with new iPhones at rates of one to three a minute, which means anywhere from 50 to 200 phones are walking out of each of Apple's 162 stores each hour," they add. "Said another way, based upon what limited data we've been able to observe and get from others, we're looking at peak physical sales in Apple Stores on the order of 30,000 an hour. But even more surprising is the fact that Apple iPhone stocks seem to be holding up well. People reported last night that they could walk into Apple Stores at 9 pm and buy an iPhone with no line or wait whatsoever. It appears that Apple's bet big on manufacturing lots of phones."

Some analysts claimed that the iPhone launch would be a failure if Apple failed to sell 100,000 iPhones during the first weekend. Based upon the limited data they have, the Blackfriars believe that number was exceeded in just the first two to three hours. Blackfriars' prediction is that Apple will sell 500,000 iPhones this weekend, and based upon limited sales rates reported, that number now looks quite achievable.

Also, the iPhone has been added to Apple's online store -- but you'll have to wait 2-4 weeks for its arrival. Also, as with the retail stores, the limit is two per customer.