AT&T sells 200,000 new iPhones in first pre-orders

Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the iPhone 4S during an announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

NEW YORK – US telecom giant AT&T said Friday it has seen an unprecedented demand for the updated iPhone, with over 200,000 pre-orders of the latest Apple gadget in the first 12 hours alone.

The iPhone 4S, unveiled on Tuesday on the eve of the death of legendary Apple founder and leader Steve Jobs, goes on wide release on October 14 in the United States and six other countries, but customers seeking to reserve the new device could start pre-orders Friday.

Two other US carriers – Verizon Wireless and Sprint – also released the iPhone for pre-order, but did not post sales figures late Friday.

The device has disappointed some analysts due to its similarity with the earlier iPhone 4, released last year, but the processor is said to be as powerful as the Apple iPad, and comes with a sophisticated voice command system, called Siri.

In addition to its stand-alone appeal, as latest incarnation of the revolutionary device, sales of the iPhone 4S are also expected to benefit from the enormous outpouring of sympathy for Jobs, who died this week at age 56, after years battling prostate cancer.

In the United States, iPhone 4S prices will start at $199 for a 16 gigabyte model and top out at $399 for a model with 64GB of memory.