For a Moment, iPhone Steals G1 Google Phone's Thunder

Google may be rolling out its G1 phone today (here's a peek and some details), but Apple is generating buzz of its own.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said late Monday that he thinks Apple—which doesn't report earnings until mid-October—has sold 4 million iPhone 3Gs (in addition to the 1 million it sold the first weekend it went on sale).

Munster raised his estimates of Apple's fourth-quarter earnings 13 percent to $1.17 a share from his previous estimate of $1.04 a share (more details here). Munster left his price target for calendar year 2009 at $250 per share.

The main number to watch, says Cnet, is 10 million—which Apple pegged as its 2008 target. "That number appears easily within reach if the 5 million estimate is accurate: Apple sold around 2.5 million iPhones during the first six months of 2008 as it ran out of the original model," Cnet says.

Apple's stock was up more than 3 percent midmorning. Google's stock was up just less than 2 percent.