Despite the disappointment that many industry experts felt with the release of the iPhone 4S, Apple sold a record 4 million phones in the first three days after releasing the device. 

According to mobile experts, the growth in iPhone sales is proof that Apple has hit a button with consumers with both mobile products and marketing. However, the smartphone industry is still up for grabs for competitors.

?Yes, Apple grew its sales with the iPhone 4S, but it was a natural progression for the company,? said Alex Spektor, senior analyst of global wireless practices at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA.

?The smartphone industry will continue to be a heated battlefield for competitors,? he said.

?The most dangerous situation for handset manufacturers right now is falling behind their competition.?

An apple a day
In addition to the four million units sold, Apple claims that 25 million consumers are using iOS 5.

Additionally, 20 million consumers have signed up for the iCloud service.

The phone is available in seven countries, including the United States, France and Japan, and has plans to be available in 70 countries by the end of the year.

Despite the fragmentation and competition the mobile industry faces, it is undeniable that consumers have latched on to the iPhone.

?Even though the product has been around in one shape or another for the past four years, consumers still have a hunger for the iPhone,? Mr. Spektor said.

The spike in sales might also be attributed to Apple signing on Sprint Nextel as a carrier.

Apple now boasts three of the top carriers as suppliers of the iPhone ? AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.

Additionally, Apple was due for a new product after speculation a new model would be released this past summer.

?The pent-up market demand for a newer model could have helped with sales, and it makes sense from the pattern that Apple has created,? Mr. Spektor said.

Consumer appeal
Despite the less-than-stellar initial acknowledgments from the tech industry, sales of the iPhone 4s did exceptionally well.

?It shows that three is a divide between the consumer attitudes of the device and the technology industry?s attitude,? said Noah Elkin, Austin, TX-based principal analyst at eMarketer.

?There are not other electronic manufacturers that generate the same brand affinity as Apple does,? he said.

?Carriers know there is a demand for the iPhone, so they are happy to have it because it will either get people to upgrade their plans or lock them in.?

Similarly, pre-orders for the iPhone 4S were greater than single-day pre-orders from Apple?s iPhone 4 (see story).

The spike in sales can also be attributed to the new hardware features that the iPhone 4S has added, especially Siri - its voice-recognition technology.

?It will be interesting to see if we can determine how useful Siri is for sales,? said Michael Morgan, Vermont-based senior analyst for mobile devices at ABI Research.

?Speech recognition always there in the background, but never at full-front of Apple?s products,? he said.

Joy Liuzzo, vice president of InsightExpress, Stamford, CT, said that Apple?s sales are something all mobile manufacturers should take note of.

?I?m still waiting to see the numbers split between upgrades of current iPhone devices and completely new iPhone users, but if anyone had any doubts before that they needed to pay attention to the mobile channel, this sales record should have crushed them,? Ms. Liuzzo said.

?Four million people purchasing a device in the first weekend it?s offered is a lot of eyeballs and engagement to risk ignoring.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York