I think that one part of the reason for the iPhone success and large 4S preorders is how Apple is focused a little differently then some of the other vendors. Right from the start, Apple didn't just aim at the smartphone market, or the enterprise market. They aimed at the phone market as a whole. It was very clear messaging from day one, this is a phone for everyone. Not a push e-mail device aimed initially at businesses (Blackberry), or the classic IT smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 and below/ Palm Trio). Android reaimed at the consumer prior to launch, but after the iPhone and with a weaker initial start.

The upcoming quarterly results should be interesting, since it will have numbers on how many iPhone 4 sold during the "dead" quarter when everyone was anticipating a new iPhone 5. My hunch is that it was still one of the better iPhone quarters in the history of the product.