How do you get to 10 million?

There's been some confusion about how Apple expects to get to its stated goal of having sold 10 million iPhones in 2008.

Some have said that it's 10 million by the end of 2008 and therefore should include the 3.7 million phones sold in 2007 while other have said it's 10 million sold in calendar 2008.

Turns out it's the latter.

Google it up and you'll see that this has been confirmed by many an analyst and, to be honest, it is not what the Macalope thought -- he thought it included 2007. It doesn't, however, and the brown and furry one apologizes for the error.

And, really, he should have known better. 10 million by the end of 2008 would have made iPhone sales completely flat or down for calendar 2008 as 3.7 represents about 6 months of sales and 3.7 X 3 = 11.1.

Regardless, Macworld's Jason Snell has already detailed how Apple will likely beat the 10 million mark for calendar 2008. So the question really is just by how much.

[dappya]

And let us not forget that Apple has been inking deals left and right to sell the iPhone outside of the U.S. "sometime later this year," as the articles say. Unless I'm greatly mistaken, they now have most of Europe covered, Canada, Japan and much of Latin America (including Mexico, whose richest citizen made his money in the cel phone business). I'm not sure Snell is even taking all of that into account.