Apple rings in record sales for new iPhone 4

Apple Inc announced on Monday that it sold more than 1.7 million of its new iPhones in the first three days, shattering the previous record for sales of the popular smart phone, which hit the stores last Thursday.

Sales of the iPhone 4 beat demand for last year's iPhone 3GS, which sold 1 million in the same time period.

"This is the most successful product launch in Apple's history," chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement. "Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply."

Many stores ran out of the phone when it went on sale last Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of people across the country waited in long lines that have become a tradition for Apple fans.

The record sales came despite controversy over the device, which boasts the newest update to Apple's operating system - iOS 4 - and the iPhone 4-to-iPhone 4 video chatting feature, FaceTime. (See: Apple sells 600,000 iPhone 4 despite pre-orders website glitches)

The Cupertino, California-based company halted taking advance orders the week before the launch, saying that it was worried about being able to make the phones fast enough to meet demand. More than 600,000 iPhone 4s were sold on the first day Apple began taking pre-orders.