There is ongoing debate about whether Apple can hit its target of 10 million iPhone sales in 2008. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi believes the device may only sell 7.9 million units this year, more than 20% below its target. Sacconaghi’s estimates are based on sales of the iPhone for December, when Apple sold about 180,000 iPhones per week. They also take into account seasonal factors and “particularly disappointing” European sales, where the iPhone is available in France, Germany and the UK. Meanwhile other analysts have also cast doubts over iPhone sales to date, identifying two major challenges; a demand that has failed to meet expectations, and the problem of unlocked iPhones, which are preventing Apple from securing revenue-sharing deals with network providers. Recent figures suggest that up to 1.3 million iPhones could have been unlocked by users. China Mobile estimates that some 400,000 iPhone handsets were illegally activated on its network by the end of last year, although Apple has not yet officially launched the device in China.

Reports elsewhere provide a more positive spin on the iPhone’s potential. The device is set to launch in more countries this year, notably in Asia and in Canada. Apple has also said it would release new models that will work on 3G networks, which are faster than the EDGE networks the current device uses. Earlier this month, Orange claimed to have sold 90,000 iPhones since the handset launched in France on November 29. In the UK and Germany, where the device hit the market three weeks earlier, O2 and T-Mobile claimed to have sold 190,000 and 70,000 iPhones, respectively, by mid-January.