A million iPhone sold in 3 days

"Even with a down economy, food, shelter, clothing and now smart phones are becoming an essential part of people's lives," Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner Inc, said as quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Apple, which launched its first iPhone two years ago, said it had sold more than 21 million of them by March 28.

Market research company iSuppli Corp projects said that by the end of the year the company will have carved out 10 per cent of the world market for smart phones, up from 8.4 per cent in 2008.

Although overall mobile phone sales are expected to drop 12.3 per cent worldwide, smart phones are projected to grow 11.6 per cent, an iSuppli analyst, Tina Teng, said as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"People are holding on to their phones a lot longer in the bad economy," Ms Teng said. "But when they do get new phones, they tend to choose smart phones."

"Smart phones are really on a tear," Mr Dulaney said - not just the iPhone. He added: "To January next year, you will see more smart-phone announcements than you have ever seen before."