Vodafone Sells 50,000 iPhones in First 24 Hours

Vodafone, the fourth carrier in the UK to get the iPhone, had an impressive first day of sales, unloading more than 50,000 iPhones on Thursday alone according to The Independent. To put that in perspective, Vodafone sold 30,000 more iPhones in a single day than Google sold Nexus Ones in a full week.

What's perhaps most interesting about the news is that in the UK the iPhone is already sold by Orange, O2 (whose exclusive deal with Apple expired at the end of 2009), and Tesco. In fact, Vodafone actually out sold Orange by a ratio of 5:3 for the first 24 hour period.

The Independent writes:

"There had been fears the group would see customers move to rival operators as a result. However, one company insider said: "When we didn't get the iPhone initially, everyone predicted that customers would leave. These sales figures have proved that wrong."
This came despite Vodafone offering customers the device on a similar tariff to Orange and O2, scotching talk that a bitter price war was set to break out. Both Orange and Vodafone have instead looked to sell the phone off the strength of their networks. Mr Laurence reiterated yesterday that the "exceptional demand" had been driven by the strength of the company's network."

If anything, Vodafone's initial success with the iPhone clearly demonstrates that each additional carrier matters to Apple's bottom-line, and may even serve as a bit of foreshadowing for the day that Verizon gets the iPhone in the United States.