Apple iPhone 4S sells more than four million

First weekend sales more than double those of the iPhone 4 at launch, says Apple...

iPhone 4S is off to a great start, says Apple, despite initial disappointment in the absence of the iPhone 5Photo: Brett Jordan

More than four million iPhone 4S smartphones have been sold in the first three days since the device went on sale - more than double the number of iPhone 4 handsets sold at launch, Apple has announced.

"iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend - the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing, in a statement.

The latest Apple iPhone, which was unveiled earlier this month and went on sale in the UK on 14 October, has a dual-core chip, a beefed-up eight-megapixel camera that supports 1080p HD video recording and a voice-based user interface called Siri which responds to verbal questions and commands.

Apple also announced that more than 25 million customers are using iOS 5 - the latest iteration of its mobile OS which was released for download on 12 October. iOS 5 runs on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, along with Apple's iPad and iPod Touch devices.

Apple added that more that 20 million customers have signed up to iCloud - its free cloud services offering.

Despite disappointment in some quarters when the iPhone 4S was revealed - rather than an iPhone 5 - demand for the 4S has been brisk. Last week Cupertino revealed that pre-orders for the iPhone 4S topped one million in the first day of pre-order availability.