Guessing that strong opening-week sales of the iPhone 5 may offset customers who held back from buying in the three months prior, a quarterly roundup of analyst estimates (both Wall Street and independent) for how many iPhones were sold by Apple in the company's fiscal fourth quarter (which ended on September 30) has a mean average of 26.3 million units, slightly higher than the number sold in Q3. Because iPhones make up the bulk of the company's revenues, its sales are a leading indicator of how other products will do.
