By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Initial sales didn't meet expectations, and the company is stalling until its next earnings report -- perhaps hoping sales wil surge meanwhile. Moreover, if Verizon Wireless sold 60 percent of initial iPhone sales online, as the CEO claims, the other 40 percent leads to a surprisingly small number.

On February 14, I asked: "Say, whatever happened to that 1 million Verizon iPhones sold announcement?" If first weekend demand was good, then surely somebody, either Apple or Verizon, would have released sales figures. After all, Apple could have scored a big, distracting PR coup just as Mobile World Congress was beginning. Instead, there was silence, which Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead broke as the weekend started. He told the Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the iPhone 4 launch broke sales records. Funny thing, neither news organization actually quotes Mead about Verizon iPhone sales. They summarize instead. Now why is that? Regardless, Mead gives no actual sales numbers, which removes real credibility from his summarized claims. He defers revealing sales until Verizon's next quarterly earnings report.

If you recall, Apple and Verizon both prepared for long lines of anxious buyers. Instead,