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Apple said today that it had sold 1 million of its new iPhones just three days after the device became available.

Last year, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first two days it was launched. It took Apple two and a half months to reach the million mark last year.

"iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world."

This year's launch of the new iPhone was available in 21 countries, unlike last year when the initial launch was only available in the U.S. before being made available in other countries.

Half of Apple's 187 U.S. retail outlets were sold out last night. AT&T, the exclusive U.S. provider of the iPhone, said the majority of its 2,000 stores were sold out. Providers in the U.K., Germany, Canada and Japan said many stores ran out of the iPhone 3G.

Issues with activation caused problems in the U.S. on Friday, leaving many iPhone buyers frustrated they could not use their new device after waiting in line for hours.

AT&T said the problem had to do with synchronizing the phone with Apple's iTunes, saying it was caused by too many users trying to access iTunes at the same time.