1M iPhone 3G S sold over weekend, Jobs claims lead

According a statement from Apple today, between Friday's launch of the iPhone 3GS and Sunday evening, its third full day on the market, more than one million units were sold, and six million customers downloaded the iPhone 3.0 software.

Apple's ailing but soon-to-be-returning CEO Steve Jobs said, "Customers are voting, and the iPhone is winning. With over 50,000 applications available from Apple's revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."

Since the 3G S is an evolutionary upgrade rather than a complete change in function and design, analysts were expecting its sales to be only around 500,000. Instead, this launch was on par with last year's launch of the iPhone 3G, which also sold one million units in its first weekend. The first iPhone, by comparison, did not reach its one millionth sale until 74 days after its launch.

This morning's statement from Jobs was his first since the strangely unsourced news on Saturday (confirmed since then by CNBC's Jim Goldman) that he had received a liver transplant two months ago. Apple is not confirming that news, but it is not denying it either, and is telling the press that he plans to return to work perhaps as soon as July.